Delhi Polls: Congress, RJD Tie Up Alliance, Lalu Prasad’s Party Gets 4 Seats, Say Sources

The Congress has joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to contest Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February 8, with both parties formalising 66-4 seat-sharing formula, sources said on Thursday. The move comes a couple of days after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said his party was looking forward to contesting the Delhi polls in alliance with the Congress, with which it has shared a long partnership in Bihar and on the national level.

Yadav, who is party supremo Lalu Prasad’s younger son and heir apparent, said his party would like to concentrate on seats which had a high concentration of people from Bihar and Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh) and underscored that the RJD has met with some success in Delhi in the past.

Sources said the Congress wants to neutralise BJP leader Manoj Tiwari's influence among Delhi voters by roping in the RJD. There is a sizeable number of voters from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh in the national capital.

“We have discussed most of the seats and the list will be out tomorrow (Friday),” Congress Delhi unit president Subhash Chopra told news agency IANS.

Asked about senior party leaders contesting the elections, he said the Congress high command will decide on the issue.

“I will, however, not contest as I have to manage the elections,” he added.

The Congress has not been able to finalise its candidate for the New Delhi Assembly segment, which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is contesting.

Notably, RJD leader Asif Muhammad Khan had won the Okhla seat in 2009 but switched over to the Congress afterwards. Elections in Delhi will be held on February 8 in a single phase and the results will be announced on February 11.