Congress' Bihar yatra to witness presence of Kharge, Rahul Gandhi

Patna: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Bihar as part of the a “yatra” that will commence later this month, a senior party functionary said on Monday.

Addressing his inaugural press conference upon being appointed as the BPCC president, Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh said Kharge has already accepted the invitation to address the rally at Banka, where the state-wide yatra will take off on December 28.

“When the yatra reaches Patna, a huge rally will be organised which will be addressed by either Sonia Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, depending upon their respective availability”, said Singh adding that Rahul Gandhi, “will definitely be at the public meeting in Gaya where the yatra is scheduled to conclude. By that time he will be through with the Bharat Jodo Yatra”.

Although the official website of the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” states that the 3,500 km long march will end in Pathankot on January 21, there have been reports in a section of the media that it will conclude at Delhi on the Republic Day.

The yatra in Bihar is likely to be more than 1,000 km long and cover nearly half of the state's 38 districts.

The new Bihar Congress president also said that his party was not satisfied with only one cabinet berth in the Nitish Kumar government and he would be meeting the chief minister soon to press for more.

He also said that there was a need for a “coordination committee” in the ruling “Mahagathbandhan” and claimed, “had there been a better coordination among allies, we would not have lost Kurhani assembly by-poll”.

“When we demand a coordination committee, we are not challenging the wisdom of the Chief Minister who is the leader of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. We are only pointing out to his initiative when the Grand Alliance was first formed in 2015 and he used to meet even district-level office bearers of the RJD and the Congress”, added Singh.

The BPCC president side-stepped a query about JD(U) leaders repeatedly pressing for Nitish Kumar as the Prime Minister in the event of the BJP's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and refused to be drawn in a controversy over whether the Congress will accept anybody other than Rahul Gandhi for the top post.

“We respect the sentiments of JD(U) with regard to its leader. We also do not disagree that if a Bihari becomes the PM, it will be a matter of pride for all people of the state. But first, we need to dislodge the BJP from power. For that better coordination among like-minded parties is needed. In Bihar, I can assure you that the BJP simply stands no chance in Bihar if the Mahagathbandhan puts up a cohesive fight”, added Singh.

He also rubbished speculations in a section of the media that the Congress would press for “13 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats” in Bihar in a bid to assert its larger footprints in national politics compared with allies in the state like the Chief Minister's JD(U), Lalu Prasad's RJD and the Left.

“Things like how many seats we will contest in which seat and who will be the face are not to be decided in media interactions. Only the high command can take a call in these matters. Of course, Rahul Gandhi being our undisputed (sarvamanya) leader, will be involved in such decision-making”, said Singh.

The BPCC chief, who has had a meteoric rise since he left the RJD in 2010 and joined the Congress, also indicated that an overhaul of the organisation down to the block levels would be undertaken and also urged the media to “give due place to us in coverage since we too are a national party”.

Others present at the press briefing included outgoing BPCC president Madan Mohan Jha, CLP leader Ajeet Sharma and AICC secretary and MLA Shakil Ahmed Khan. PTI PKD NAC MM MM