Sonia Gandhi calls Lalu Yadav in bid to patch up differences

Congress president Sonia Gandhi called Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav on Tuesday amid signs that the former Bihar chief minister considers his long-time ally a liability in the state.

The phone call came after the Congress and the RJD broke off their alliance ahead of the by-polls in Kusheshwar Asthan (SC) and Tarapur constituencies in Bihar, on October 30.

Yadav recently returned to politics after three years in jail and hospitals. On Monday he publicly insulted a Congress leader and questioned what good the alliance had done for his party.

Asked whether the alliance was over, Yadav said: “Kya hota hai Congress ka gathbandhan (Of what use is an alliance with the Congress).”

On Congress leader Bhakt Charan Das’s statement that the RJD was helping the BJP by turning its back on the Congress, Yadav said: “Should we have parted with a seat so that the Congress lost it and forfeited its deposit?”

Also read: ‘What is this alliance?’: Lalu questions Congress’ usefulness in Bihar

He also called Charan Das a “stupid person”.

Gandhi and Yadav have always shared good ties; in 2004, when the Congress came to power, the RJD chief supported her for the post of prime minister.

The RJD won the most seats in the 2020 assembly election. However, the Congress’ dismal performance meant the mahagatbandhan fell short of a majority and the BJP and Nitish Kumar returned to power. In post-mortems many allies blamed the Congress, which won only 19 of 40 seats allotted to it.

Significantly, Gandhi called Yadav soon after a meeting of Congress state chiefs, in which the party’s problems were discussed.

Gandhi urged her party leaders to focus on discipline and unity “overriding personal ambitions”.