Rahul Gandhi meets Bihar Congress chief

Ahead of his meeting with the newly-elected MLAs from Bihar, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday met state in-charge C.P. Joshi and PCC chief Ashok Choudhari. There is likelihood of the Congress joining the state government led by Mr Nitish Kumar.

Mr Gandhi reportedly inquired in detail about the gains made by the party in Bihar during the meeting. The meeting lasted for around 45 minutes. Sources said that Mr Gandhi also wanted to know why the party lost on some seats, which it had earlier bracketed in A-category from the winnability point of view. They included seats like Govindganj, Ramnagar, Pranpur and Valmikinagar in the state.

Mr Gandhi will be meeting all the 27 newly-elected MLAs and five MLCs on November 19. The party will form an opinion in that meeting on whether to join the government or not. The Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance won 178 seats with the RJD winning 80, the JD(U) 71 and Congress 27. Besides chief minister, there are 35 more berths to be shared among the allies, which makes it one portfolio for five seats each.

PCC chief Ashok Chowdhury, while crediting Mr Gandhi for Bihar win, said that the defeat of the BJP happened because “Rahul Gandhi played a key role in forging the alliance” and backed Mr Kumar as the CM face of the alliance.

“Moreover, he gave the state unit a free hand in deciding party matters, including candidates,” he said. The Congress had contested 41 seats out of 243, as part of the Grand Alliance, and won 27. The party had won just four seats in 2010.