Kahalgaon (Bhagalpur): All is not well with the Mahagathbandhan of RJD, JD(U) and Congress, or so it seems. It became evident on Saturday when Congress president Sonia Gandhi refrained from mentioning RJD chief Lalu Prasad at her election rally here.

Urging people to vote for secular force and parties that think of welfare of downtrodden, Sonia said the alliance has selected Nitish Kumar as its chief ministerial candidate because he works for the weaker section of the society. “Our CM candidate Nitish Kumar is a person of credibility and clean image. I request all of you to vote for the secular alliance,” Sonia said. She, however, did not mention Lalu or RJD in her speech.

It’s not that only the Congress is maintaining distance from RJD. Even Lalu’s party gave Sonia’s election meeting a miss. Bhagalpur RJD MP Shailesh Kumar alias Bulu Mandal and his wife Varsha Rani, the RJD candidate from Bihupur constituency in Bhagalpur district, who were to share the dais with Congress chief, also stayed away from the rally.

The only prominent person present from RJD was its candidate from Pirpainti Ram Vilas. Since Ram Vilas was not supposed to share the dais with Sonia, he stayed away from the stage after greeting her.

Representation from JD(U) was also not very high at the venue. However, Arjun Shah, district president of JD(U) was present.

“We are taking all decisions in consultation with Nitish and not Lalu. Anyone can guess it after today’s meeting in which RJD did not participate,” said a senior All India Congress Committee member and former vice president of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee.

