Buoyed by the victory in the Maharajganj Lok Sabha bypoll in Bihar, RJD on Wednesday said it was time for Congress to introspect as no secular government without Lalu Prasad will be possible at the Centre after the next polls.
"Countdown has begun for the Nitish Kumar government. It is the defeat of the arrogance of the chief minister. Bihar will play a role at the national level. There will be no secular government at the Centre without Lalu Prasad," party General Secretary Vijay Krishna said.
A friend-turned-foe of Nitish Kumar, Krishna told PTI that the RJD victory has exposed that the Bihar Chief Minister's plank of development was hollow and that his media management has failed to work. Krishna, who is chief spokesman of RJD, said that this was especially so in view of the fact that in states where bypolls were held, the ruling party has lost only in Bihar.
He said that the role of the Congress in the bypoll was "unfortunate" and the party needed to introspect. Congress candidate had come a poor third in the bypoll which was won by RJD's Prabhunath Singh with a margin of over 1.37 lakh votes. In a move to position itself neutrally in Bihar ahead of next Lok Sabha elections, Congress has now been talking of its 'Ekla Chalo' (go alone) stand claiming "equidistance" from both JD-U and Lalu Prasad's RJD.
Party leaders have been saying that Congress is still in "no mood" to ally with any party for the next elections there. Lalu Prasad's party, which was a constituent in UPA-I is currently supporting UPA-II government from outside. It has four MPs.
In recent months, there has been intense speculation about Kumar quitting NDA to join hands with Congress, which had fought the last Lok Sabha election on its own breaking off ties with RJD.
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