Lalu’s support to Mamata as INDIA bloc leader exposes rift in Congress-RJD alliance

In a surprise move, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav extended his support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday to lead the INDIA bloc.

Lalu Prasad’s move, less than a year ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, has dropped strong hints at an alleged rift in the RJD-Congress alliance.

Banerjee, the chief of the Trinamool Congress, had caused a flutter last week when she said she was ready to lead the INDIA bloc if given an opportunity.

"Yes, she should lead," said the RJD supremo, when asked about Banerjee’s remarks. "The Congress's reservations amount to nothing. Mamata should be given the leadership role (Mamata ko do),” he said.

While other leaders of the INIDA bloc remained guarded in their response to Banerjee’s remarks, Lalu Prasad’s explicit support to the TMC chief is seen as a clear dig at the Congress which is considered the de facto leader of the alliance given the numbers in Lok Sabha.

READ: Congress’s guarded response after Mamata’s ‘ready to lead INDIA bloc’ remark

The grand old party continues to be in alliance with the RJD in Bihar even after Nitish Kumar quit the bloc and joined hands with the BJP.

On Monday, AICC secretary Shahnawaz Alam, who is a co-in charge of Bihar, hinted that the party was no longer willing to play the role of little brother in the Mahagathbandhan, the state's prototype of the INDIA bloc.

“In politics, nobody is a big brother or a little brother. In the assembly polls, the number of seats each party would contest must be decided based on several factors, including the respective strike rates in the Lok Sabha elections,” Alam said.

It’s not clear whether it was the Congress leader's remark that provoked Lalu Prasad.

In the Lok Sabha elections early this year, the RJD had contested 23 seats but managed to win only 4, while the Congress bagged three of the nine seats it contested. According to reports, the Congress was not happy with the RJD unilaterally fielding candidates in several seats where the national party was hopeful of contesting.

The Congress, meanwhile, sought to downplay Lalu Prasad’s latest remarks extending support to Banerjee.

“Lalu ji is known to say lots of things casually. Let him place on record his views whenever the INDIA bloc holds its meeting. What does he mean by saying there should be a leadership change? Does he want Rahul Gandhi to be replaced as Leader of the Opposition, a post our leader holds by virtue of the party's strength in the Lok Sabha?,” Congress legislative party leader Shakil Ahmed Khan was quoted as saying by PTI.

Khan, however, defended Alam’s statement, asking why the party should not claim its due. “In the assembly polls of 2020, we were given a small share of seats on the grounds of our strike rate in the Lok Sabha elections. Now that our performance has improved, we are very much within our right to assert ourselves,” he said.