New Delhi: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge will push the party’s campaign in poll-bound Bihar by addressing two rallies in Buxar and Patna on April 20, days after the youth yatra evoked a good response from the public.
The Congress will discuss seat-sharing and joint campaigns with the INDIA bloc parties on April 17, the first official meeting of the opposition group. Elections for the 243 assembly seats are likely in October-November.
“Our national leadership is focused on Bihar. Rahul Gandhi visited Begusarai recently to join the youth yatra and now our national president is coming on April 20. The entire focus will be on strengthening the party, which is needed to boost the INDIA bloc. We aggressively raised the issues related to the youth during the yatra and will continue to do so. Of course, the INDIA bloc meeting is important as some key issues are likely to be discussed there,” AICC secretary in charge of Bihar Sushil Pasi told ETV Bharat.
According to the AICC functionary, the Congress was aggressively approaching the coming assembly elections in Bihar but would not make seat-sharing a sticking point as was being projected. The Congress had got 70 out of 243 seats in the 2020 elections under an alliance with the RJD and the Left parties, but could win only 19 seats.
“It is not about the numbers, but we will certainly push for the seats where the Congress is strong. The entire focus is to boost the alliance. We are preparing the ground on all the seats. We are also exploring joint campaigns over the coming days,” said Pasi.
According to senior Bihar Congress leaders, the most crucial aspect of fighting the elections was getting the social equations right and targeting the extremely backwards, Dalits and minorities, which together constitute roughly half the electorate.
“So far, the INDIA bloc parties have been conducting separate rallies, but now feel the need for joint public events. The Congress, the RJD and the Left parties will attend the opposition meeting on April 17. We need to identify issues that will be flagged and the social groups to be targeted. Politics in Bihar is strongly dependent on getting the caste equations right, and our target this time is to win over the extremely backwards, Dalits and minorities. But we need to plan micro-management,” Congress legislative party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan told ETV Bharat.
Pasi slammed the JD(U)-BJP government, saying the Congress tried to flag the concerns of the youth during the yatra but were targeted by the administration. “In a democracy, it is the duty of the opposition to raise the voice of the people. But we had to face the police force when we tried to do that. The government does not address the concerns of the youth,” he said.
According to Khan, Bihar was almost at the 27th position when it came to development indicators among the states in the country. “We had been promised a skill development university at a cost of Rs 1500 crore but is nowhere to be seen,” he said.
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