Rahul Gandhi no longer willing to put oil in Lalu’s lantern: Is Congress trying to form a 3rd front in Bihar with Prashant Kishor and having Kanhaiya Kumar as the face
Assembly elections are going to be held in Bihar at the end of this year, the political campaigns for which have already begun. On one side is the BJP, which is enthused after its victories in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi Assembly elections. On the other side is the Lalu Yadav’s RJD, which is trying to return to power by playing caste politics.
Congress is also in the fray in Bihar, which is trying to establish a new face in the state. Apart from these, there are LJP and HAM, which are part of the NDA alliance, even on the Waqf Bill, BJP had the support of these two parties. There are also leftists, CPI (ML) has a good influence in some districts of Bihar.
There is also a party Vikassheel Insaan Party, which claims its right on the votes of the Nishad community. At the same time, a new party named ‘Jan Suraaj Party’ has also emerged in the state politics, which is making headlines in the national media. This is Prashant Kishor’s party, who was once close to both Lalu and Nitish. The latest equation in Bihar is that the Congress party’s show of strength has made the RJD restless. Will Lalu Yadav ever be able to see a Congress face emerging? If a strong Congress face emerges, then what will happen to Tejashwi Yadav’s political aspirations.
Rahul Gandhi’s blessings to Kanhaiya Kumar, a threat to RJD’s ambitions
On Monday (7th April, 2025) Rahul Gandhi took part in a padyatra with Kanhaiya Kumar in Begusarai. This padyatra has been named ‘Give jobs, stop migration’. In the journey from Subhash Chowk to Har-Har Mahadev Chowk in Begusarai, Rahul Gandhi couldn’t attract much crowd, but he definitely left a message. He was even welcomed with a shower of flowers at many places. On social media too, the party described this yatra as the hope of Bihar’s struggle and voice. RJD and Lalu Yadav family kept their distance from this yatra.
After returning from Begusarai, Rahul Gandhi participated in 2 programs in the capital Patna. He participated in the ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan’ at Sri Krishna Memorial Hall, while he also interacted with party leaders and workers at the party’s state headquarters ‘Sadakat Ashram’. After a long time, so much hustle and bustle is being seen within the Congress in Bihar. Since the time of Lok Sabha elections 2024, Rahul Gandhi has been giving the slogan of ‘Save the Constitution’, he has been constantly talking about OBC/SC/ST rights, will these tactics work in upcoming Bihar elections?
The impact of these tactics will be known only after the election results, but the effect of this tactic has definitely started showing in the grand alliance. The I.N.D.I. alliance fizzled out across the country, but the RJD-Congress-Left parties alliance is still going strong so far in Bihar. However, Lalu Yadav doesn’t want to see any Congress leader becoming powerful in Bihar. Notably, before the Lok Sabha elections, Pappu Yadav had a meeting with Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav before joining Congress, but in the Purnia Lok Sabha elections, Tejashwi Yadav fiercely attacked Pappu Yadav.
Pappu Yadav won by contesting as an independent, but he did not leave Congress. Now a new and popular face is emerging from Congress in the form of Kanhaiya Kumar. Kanhaiya Kumar has been a popular face on social media since the provocative slogans raised in JNU in February 2016, since joining the Congress, he has been seen being a part of big meetings of the party. He comes from Begusarai in Bihar and is outspoken in front of the media and the public. In such a situation, two-time deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, who is struggling to become CM for the first time, will hardly pay any attention to him.
Congress may go into alliance with Prashant Kishor
In such a situation, if Tejashwi Yadav is not giving importance by Congress at the bargaining table, then what option will the party have? One option that the Congress party can have is to join the alliance with Prashant Kishor. Congress party still has cadres in every area, the party has been in power in Bihar for a long time after independence. On the other hand, PK has social media hype and strategy. Prashant Kishor had organized a conference of Muslims in Patna, he has opposed the Waqf Bill, he was also seen a lot in Eid-Iftari – in such a situation, Congress hardly has any objection to an alliance with him.
In the assembly by-elections held on 4 seats in 2024, Jan Suraaj Party (JSUPA) had to change candidates on 2 seats, yet the party was successful in getting more than 10% votes. After that in the Legislative Council by-election, ‘Jan Suraaj Party’ was definitely ahead of RJD-JDU. Recently, student union elections were held in Patna University, in which ABVP won the post of president. For the post of joint secretary, the candidate of JSUPA lost by just 182 votes. RJD suffered a crushing defeat, while the youth showed enthusiasm for Prashant Kishor’s party. Prashant Kishor had incidentally supported NSUI for the post of president.
If we look at some of the decisions taken by the Congress in recent times, it seems as if the party is trying to increase its independent support base in Bihar. New presidents were appointed in all 40 organizational districts. Along with this, state president Akhilesh Yadav was removed from the post. Akhilesh Yadav was a RJD leader during the UPA period and also the Union Minister of State for Agriculture. He was counted among the close aides of Lalu Yadav, so it was also believed that the thinking behind his removal was that the Congress should create a strong identity separate from Lalu Yadav and RJD.
Let us also tell you about Lalu Yadav that whatever dealings he does, he does it directly after talking to Sonia Gandhi on the phone, perhaps this is the reason why he does not give importance to the in-charges sent by the Congress party to the state. In 2021, Lalu Yadav had described Bhakta Charan Das, who was sent by the Congress as in-charge, as ‘Bhakchonhar’. Recently, the current in-charge of Congress, Krishna Allavaru has met the ailing Lalu Yadav. It was told that he had gone to inquire about Lalu’s health.
Congress is trying to scare its regional allies, eyeing Muslim votes
Well, amidst all these discussions, one thing seems certain that the deal between Congress and RJD has not been finalized, the talks regarding seat sharing have not been able to move forward. The credit for AAP’s defeat in Delhi also goes to Congress, even if the figures do not confirm it. In UP, Akhilesh Yadav has stopped giving importance to the Congress party and has even said that Congress is now finished. In such a situation, Congress is scaring the regional parties that if the alliance is not formed, then even if they do not win, they will definitely defeat them.
Congress, which is running on the principle of ‘Hum to doobenge sanam, tumko bhi le doobenge‘, has had a relationship with PK earlier. Prashant Kishor has worked for Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Once there was a discussion about taking him into Congress and making him the president, but then it came to light that Rahul Gandhi does not like him very much. Prashant Kishor has done padyatra (foot march) in Bihar, has also taken donations from people, has also wooed Muslims, has attacked Lalu and Modi together – so it should not be a surprise if both of them are seen contesting elections together tomorrow.
Dalit-OBC, Constitution, Reservation – Congress’s issues clashing with RJD
Regarding the election of district presidents of Congress, Rahul Gandhi is repeating that the party has given priority to the backward classes and has removed the people of the ‘upper caste’. RJD spokespersons also keep harping on the backward class again and again. In such a situation, Congress entering Bihar and playing on the same pitch means directly facing the RJD. The party’s convention is also going to be held in Gujarat on April 9, it should be seen as a show of strength before the Bihar elections. There too, the talks will be about the constitution, backward class and reservation.
One reason for this is that Nitish Kumar has already sub-classified Dalits in Bihar and given them the status of Mahadalit, while the public welfare schemes of the Modi government in the state have mostly benefited the backward society, especially women. On April 11, Prashant Kishor will start the ‘Bihar Badlaav Rally’ from Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Bihar politics is standing at a point where no one seems to be anyone’s friend, even Nitish Kumar is a compulsion for the BJP. Some of his recent viral videos have also increased the tension of the BJP.
Still, the Mahadalit and women vote bank is with Nitish Kumar and this is his strength. In Bihar, which has been suffering from the corruption of the Lalu family, Nitish Kumar seems ‘clean’ in this matter. So can this time in Bihar, BJP, JDU, LJP and HAM be seen on one side, Congress and PK on one side and RJD and Left parties on the other side? Where will Mukesh Sahni of VIP go in this triangular fight? They are demanding 60 seats which is definitely not possible with RJD being in the Grand Alliance.
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