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Congress to go it alone in Bihar by-polls: Tytler

Shoumojit Banerjee

“It is suicidal to ally with the RJD-LJP combine”

Patna: Former Union Minister and Bihar Congress in-charge Jagdish Tytler on Thursday declared that the Congress would fight the by-polls and the State Assembly election alone.

“It is suicidal to ally ourselves with the RJD-LJP combine. We will definitely not be taking anybody’s help. We are a national party and we are sure to come back (to power),” said Mr. Tytler, who has been appointed in-charge to revive the party’s sagging fortunes in the State.

Commencing on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Mr. Tytler met organizational heads and party workers and discussed strategies to rebuild the party, which has been moribund in the State after 1989.

He said the party’s shortcomings had cost them two generation of voters while suggesting that a major overhaul was on the cards.

Mr. Tytler said the party was starting from a position where much rebuilding was required, but promised that “it would be a force to reckon with in the next 15 months.”

As part of his strategy, Mr. Tytler proposes to use technology extensively with a daily video-conferencing session with party workers for two hours.

Despite Mr. Tytler’s claims about staging a comeback in the State, the Congress does not have even functional committees in most of the districts.

Moreover, the very appointment of Mr. Tytler as the State in-charge has courted controversy within party ranks. The party leaders are demanding the ouster of Anil Sharma, the current state party president, while alleging widespread corruption and blatant misuse of party funds during the last Lok Sabha elections.

Senior party leaders allege that of the 37 seats the Congress contested in Bihar, only 16 members were Congress candidates while the remaining 21 tickets were given to RJD-LJP defectors, most of whom had lost their security deposits and had criminal backgrounds.

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