Congress slams RJD; says 'contested on seats never won by alliance' after 'picnic' jibe

Lashing out at its Mahagathbandhan ally, Congress' Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil on Monday, claimed that the grand old party had agreed to contest on seats where the alliance had not won in 30 years. Claiming that the Congress had 'agreed to all decisions to keep the alliance intact'. RJD has claimed that Congress shackled its alliance, hurting RJD's chances.

RJD leader says 'Congress shackled gathbandhan'; slams Rahul Gandhi's 'picnic' amid polls

Congress: 'Agreed to all decisions'

Slamming RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari's criticism of Rahul Gandhi, Gohil alleged that Tiwari - who was previously a part of JDU - was levelling baseless allegations against Congress to help weak govt of JD(U)-BJP. Senior leader Kapil Sibal said to Indian Express that 'people were not considering Congress to be an effective alternative', after the party's drubbing in the Bihar polls. Several other Congress leaders too have called for introspection by the party's central leadership regarding its performance.

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'Congress shackling Mahagathabandhan': RJD

On Sunday, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari alleged that it seemed like Congress had shacked the Mahagathbandhan, taking down RJD with it in the recently concluded Bihar polls. Tiwari lashed out ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi pointing out that 'he was picnicking in Priyanka Gandhi's Shimla home' in the midst of elections. NDA managed to eke out a majority winning 125 seats, compared to Mahagathbandhan's 110 seats in the Bihar polls.

Congress became a shackle for Mahagathbandhan. They had fielded 70 candidates but didn't hold even 70 public rallies. Rahul Gandhi came for 3 days, Priyanka didn't come, those who were unfamiliar with Bihar came here. This is not right," said Tiwari.

He added, "Elections were in full swing here and Rahul Gandhi was having a picnic at Priyanka ji's house in Shimla. Is the party run like that? Allegations can be levelled that the manner in which Congress party is being run, it is benefitting BJP".Tiwari also referred to the 23 Congress leaders who had dissented against the Gandhis, seeking 'structural changes' within the grand old party.

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Congress strike rate's in Bihar

Earlier on Thursday, Congress' Bihar ally, CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya commented that the strike of the grand old party was low, opining that 70 seats allotted to Congress was excessive. Meanwhile, Mahagathbandhan's CM face - Tejashwi Yadav refused to comment if Congress pulled down RJD's performance in the polls. Compared to Congress's lowly strike rate of 27.14%, CPI(ML) had an impressive 63% strike rate, which is higher than the single-largest party - RJD (52.03%). Several Congress leaders too had echoed similar sentiments.

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