Cong alliance verdict in May
AICC general secretary
CP Joshi at the news meet
in Patna on Friday.
Picture by Jai Prakash
Patna, Jan. 30: All India Congress Committee general secretary and Bihar affairs in-charge C.P. Joshi said the party would discuss in May whether or not to go for an alliance in the Assembly elections.
'We will discuss the party's poll strategy in May. We are aware of the ground realities... Country is looking up to Bihar, which has always sent the signal for change. L.K. Advani's rath was stopped here... a chief minister severed ties with the BJP the moment a communal leader (Narendra Modi) was named its Prime Ministerial candidate,' he said.
Joshi was replying to a query on whether the party would repeat its alliance with the JDU and RJD that fetched the Congress two of 10 Assembly seats in by-elections last year.
Asked if the party was still undecided on its poll strategy, Joshi said: 'There is no confusion. We're preparing ourselves for the polls... We'll discuss with our state leaders in February and launch a three-month stir on people's issues', before the final call in May.
Joshi was flanked by Paresh Dhanani and K.L. Sharma, Congress national secretaries and co-in-charges with him. Joshi was talking to reporters at the end of a four-day chintan shivir at the party's state headquarters, Sadaquat Ashram, to deliberate on proposed changes in party rules.
Altogether 700 party workers, including senior state party leaders like state party unit president Ashok Choudhary, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, former MPs, former and MLAs attended the camp.
A senior state Congress leader said on condition of anonymity: 'Neither Joshi's visit nor his media interaction created any positive vibes. He did not talk like a general secretary in-charge. Joshi was just trying to save his job. After all, this was only his third visit to Bihar since his appointment as state in-charge in June 2013. This was also the first time he stayed for three nights.'
Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi pays tributes to the Father of the Nation on Martyr’s Day at Gandhi Ghat on Friday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey
Another leader speaking on condition of anonymity said: 'This indecisiveness will cost the party dear, especially when the BJP has set a mission-185 and the JDU and RJD are trying for a merger. Our party will decide in May whether or not to go for an alliance. By then, it would be too late and, in fact, Joshi's statement is enough to create confusion among the cadres.'
Asked if he faced any interference from Rahul Gandhi when he was a minister, Joshi said: 'Rahul Gandhi never interfered in any ministers' work, including mine. When I was surface and road transport minister, he came to me for construction of roads in his constituency (Amethi).'
On when the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee would be reconstituted, Joshi said: 'The committee has been dissolved as part of a strategy. We'll reconstitute it soon.'