The RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar has come to an end ahead of the crucial by-elections on October 30. Bihar Congress in-charge Bhakt Charan Das has said the alliance with the RJD collapsed after the party decided to contest the Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seat, a traditional bastion of the Congress.

Speaking to India Today TV, Bhakta Charan Das declared that Congress will be contesting elections for all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections.

“If RJD cannot give us respect, how can we give them respect? We are now strengthening our party for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and will contest all 40 seats,” announced Bhakta Charan Das.

He also rubbished the claims made by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav that both parties were fighting a friendly contest at the Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur seats.

“There is no friendly fight with RJD and we are contesting this election to win. Why is RJD contesting Kusheshwar Asthan? It is clear that RJD does not want the support of 19 MLAs of Congress and have decided to call off the alliance,” Das said.

The Congress leader expressed hope that with former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar joining the party, it will further strengthen Congress in Bihar.

“Kanhaiya will emerge to be an energetic leader of Bihar in the future,” Das said.

The relations between RJD and Congress began to strain after the former decided to contest both the seats in the bypoll without consulting the Congress.

Congress was keen on contesting Kusheshwar Asthan seat as it was a traditional bastion of the party and it had come second on this seat in the last assembly elections.

What ensued was a war of words between the parties that has been on for the last three weeks with Bihar Congress in-charge Bhakt Charan Das declaring that the alliance between both parties is now over.