PATNA: State Congress president Madan Mohan Jha met party’s national president (incharge) Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday and apprised her about the recent meeting of the Grand Alliance (GA) in Bihar, roles of different GA functionaries in the recently concluded parliamentary election and upcoming byelections in the state.
This was Jha’s first meeting with Sonia after the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections. The meeting lasted for 20 minutes. “We discussed ways to strengthen the Congress and its different cells in the state. Discussions were also held on how the ruling NDA has started harassing opposition leaders across the country,” Jha told TOI over the phone.
Asked whether the party will fight the assembly elections next year in alliance with the RJD or go it alone, Jha said no discussion was held in this regard during meeting with Sonia. “I told the party president about the five assembly seats and one parliamentary seat in the state where byelections will take place,” Jha said.
Jha, All India Congress Committee secretary for Bihar Virender Singh Rathore and party’s state in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil also met AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and discussed their future plans. Jha said a meeting of senior state Congress functionaries would be held on Sunday. “We may begin with padyatra from Motihari on October 2,” Jha added.
Shakeel too meets party’s interim president: Former Union minister Shakeel Ahmad, who was suspended from the party in May this year for contesting as independent from Madhubani Lok Sabha seat against the wishes of the party also met Congress interim national president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday. Even Congress’s Benipatti MLA Bhawana Jha was suspended from the party for extending support to Shakeel.
“I am still in the party. Since I was out of the country for more than a month after the Lok Sabha election, I could not meet Soniaji. I finally met her on Thursday. It was just a courtesy call,” Shakeel said.
Sources in Congress said efforts were on to revoke the suspension of Shakeel and Bhawana. “We want the two leaders to actively work with us,” said a Congress functionary.
This was Jha’s first meeting with Sonia after the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections. The meeting lasted for 20 minutes. “We discussed ways to strengthen the Congress and its different cells in the state. Discussions were also held on how the ruling NDA has started harassing opposition leaders across the country,” Jha told TOI over the phone.
Asked whether the party will fight the assembly elections next year in alliance with the RJD or go it alone, Jha said no discussion was held in this regard during meeting with Sonia. “I told the party president about the five assembly seats and one parliamentary seat in the state where byelections will take place,” Jha said.
Jha, All India Congress Committee secretary for Bihar Virender Singh Rathore and party’s state in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil also met AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and discussed their future plans. Jha said a meeting of senior state Congress functionaries would be held on Sunday. “We may begin with padyatra from Motihari on October 2,” Jha added.
Shakeel too meets party’s interim president: Former Union minister Shakeel Ahmad, who was suspended from the party in May this year for contesting as independent from Madhubani Lok Sabha seat against the wishes of the party also met Congress interim national president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday. Even Congress’s Benipatti MLA Bhawana Jha was suspended from the party for extending support to Shakeel.
“I am still in the party. Since I was out of the country for more than a month after the Lok Sabha election, I could not meet Soniaji. I finally met her on Thursday. It was just a courtesy call,” Shakeel said.
Sources in Congress said efforts were on to revoke the suspension of Shakeel and Bhawana. “We want the two leaders to actively work with us,” said a Congress functionary.
Quick Links
Lok Sabha Election Schedule 2019Lok Sabha Election NewsDelhi Capitals teamMI team 2019Rajasthan Royals 2019RCB team 2019Maharashtra Lok Sabha ConstituenciesBJP Candidate ListBJP List 2019 TamilnaduShiv Sena List 2019AP BJP List 2019Mamata BanerjeeBJP List 2019 MaharashtraPriyanka GandhiBJP List 2019 KarnatakaAMMK Candidate List 2019BJP List 2019 WBLok Sabha Elections in Tamil NaduBSP List 2019 UPNews in TamilLok Sabha Poll 2019Satta Matka 2018PM ModiMahagathbandhanNagpur BJP Candidate ListChandrababu NaiduTamil Nadu ElectionsUrmila MatondkarNews in TeluguMadras High CourtTejashwi YadavArvind KejriwalTejasvi SuryaPawan KalyanArvind KejriwalYogi AdityanathJaya PradaSatta King 2019Srinagar encounter
Get the app