Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday directed party leaders from Bihar to prepare an agitation plan to revive the party in the state where it has been out of power for the past 25 years.
Rahul, who met newly appointed PCC president Ashok Choudhary and ClP leader Sadanand Singh in presence of AICC Incharge of Bihar Gulchain Singh Charak and Secretary Sanjay Nirupam, asked them to take up people's issues to mark the Congress presence in the state. Mass contact programme and filling up the vacant posts at various levels in the organization is the priority of the party, sources said.
The Congress is keenly observing the fight between NDA allies JD(U) and BJP over the Prime Ministerial candidate, but does not want to take any decision about alliance prospects in haste. The party will discuss the matter of future alliance in Bihar later on, they said.
Since Rahul's experiment of going alone in Bihar in 2010 assembly polls had led to dismal performance for the Congress, the party would want to have a pre-poll alliance in the State for the lok Sabha elections. RJD President lalu Prasad is keen to have an alliance with Congress in the state, but the latter feels that going with JD(U) will be more beneficial as far as electoral prospects are concerned.
Choudhury, a dalit leader hand-picked by Rahul to overhaul the party in the state, has a tough task ahead as the Congress lacks grass root level organisation in the state.
Rahul also held consultations with Delhi leaders, including CM Sheila Dikshit, PCC president JP Agarwal and AICC general secretary Birendra Singh, to assess preparation for Assembly polls. The party, in power for three terms, is trying to formulate a strategy to fight anti-incumbency. Rahul asked leaders to end factionalism and prepare for the assembly polls scheduled by the year end.