Even as the speculation over the early lok Sabha elections is gaining strength, particularly when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has upped the ante against the UPA in no uncertain term, the Bihar Congress which won just two seats in the last elections declared that it would contest on all 40 Parliamentary seats in the State.
State Congress president Mehboob Ali Kaiser told The Pioneer that the party had even started identifying suitable candidates who could be fielded in the next lok Sabha elections. He said that the Congress’s organisational structure had been created in the State and now the State party finds itself competent enough to contest all 40 seats.
He said that a high level party meeting would be held at the State Congress headquarters at Sadaquat Ashram in Patna on Saturday to decide future course of action in this regard. The meeting would be attended by senior Congress leaders like party in-charge for Bihar Gulchain Singh Charak and Sanjay Nirupam.
The first half of the meeting would be marked by deliberations among members of the State coordination committee while the district Congress presidents would discuss issues being confronted by the party in the later half. The 2014 lok Sabha elections preparation would be one of the major topics of the day long deliberations.
Kaiser reiterated that the party will launch an aggressive agitational programme against the Nitish Kumar Government soon on various matters including the alleged unsatisfactory non-implementation of flagship programmes of the UPA Government like MNREGA and SSA in Bihar.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had constituted a sub-committee for finding out the possibility of alliances with any party for the lok Sabha elections but various issues would be considered before reaching a final conclusion, the State Congress president stated.
“The Congress will enter into an alliance with other political parties by keeping national perspective in mind,” he remarked.
State JD(U) president Vashistha Narayan Singh said that it is unnecessary to discuss the possibility of an early lok Sabha polls when PM Manmohan Singh himself exudes confidence that the Government will complete its full term despite all the challenges.
“There is no such any formidable development which warrants lok Sabha elections before its scheduled time in 2014,” he noted.
When asked whether the JD (U) is preparing to contest all 40 lok Sabha seats, Singh said that all political parties should be ready for election any time and should make preparations at all booths.
State BJP president Mangal Pandey said that the BJP is making preparations at all 56,000 booths as the party’s strength will only help its ally JD(U) in the elections. It is equally true for both parties, he added.
Senior BJP leader and State Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj SIngh said that the Congress used to survive through its “Jugadu technology” since the Narsimha Rao days.
“Nobody can forget how the Narsimha Rao Government survived by bribing JMM MPs to defeat no-confidence motion against it in 1993,” he recalled.
To a query on whether the BJP and the JD (U) are sure that they would contest the lok Sabha elections together, he remarked, “The future could not be predicted in the politics.”
He, however, claimed that there was no problem in the relationship between both the parties,” he added.
Senior RJD leader and party MP Ram Kripal Yadav said, “It is not the State Congress but the Central command of the party which will take a final decision whether the national party will be contesting all 40 seats in the general election.”
Apprehending that the Congress contesting all the seats, he said that the RJD will try its level best to prevent division of the secular votes so that the communal forces do not return to the power.