Tejashwi hints RJD may not dump Congress in Bihar for 2019

Lucknow Jan 14 (IANS) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday indicated that his party may not dump the Congress in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections even as he expressed confidence that the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh will wipe out the BJP and stop the saffron party from returning to power in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference jointly with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said that after the alliances in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, if a tie-up happens in Jharkhand among anti-BJP parties, then the wipe-out of the BJP was certain from the three states where the BJP won 110-115 of the 134 seats in 2014.

Asked what would be his party's stand regarding the Congress in Bihar in the wake of Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine dumping it in Uttar Pradesh, Tejashwi Yadav said: "The Congress has been with us from early on."

Tejashwi Yadav referred to the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-polls in March 2018 where the SP and BSP, arch rivals for a quarter century, joined hands to defeat the BJP.

"The by-elections has already proved the success of the alliance. Even without the Congress, SP and BSP alone displayed their power. The motive is to defeat the BJP. Whether the Congress is there or not, the BJP will be defeated," he asserted.

Tejashwi Yadav, however, was quick to reiterate Congress President Rahul Gandhi's assertion that the motive of the opposition parties was to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"The SP-BSP alliance is historic and it will show the way not just in UP or Bihar but will also decide who comes to power in Delhi," said the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader who is here to meet Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

Claiming there was a "state of emergency" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tejashwi Yadav said the coming together of parties like the SP and BSP was essential to save the country from the BJP-RSS ideology which he added was being imposed on the country.

He flayed Prime Minister Modi for denying special status to Bihar despite repeatedly promising it and said central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were functioning like "allies of BJP".

Speaking on the occasion, Akhilesh Yadav too flayed the Modi government for only making hollow promises.

"Depsite our repeated demands for a bullet train connecting Delhi with Kolkata via UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, Modi shamelessly gave the bullet train to his home state connecting Mumbai," said Akhilesh Yadav.

He said the entire country was unhappy with the BJP.

Asked if Mayawati or he himself could be the probable Prime Ministerial face, Akhilesh Yadav remained cryptic saying: "Uttar Pradesh has given many a Prime Ministers".