Congress rules out alliance in Bihar in future

NEW DELHI - Despite a poor showing in the Bihar assembly polls, the Congress Wednesday indicated that the party will continue its policy of not forging electoral alliances in the state but expanding its party-base.

“We will build the party on our own for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and not have any tie-up,” a party general secretary told IANS, adding that the party will look into the reasons for its defeat.

Party general secretary Mukul Wasnik, who is incharge of Bihar, denied that the party had made a mistake by going it alone in Bihar.

“It was a new beginning and now the results have come. Nobody was thinking that we would make way easily. I don’t believe that we committed a mistake by going alone. We wanted to create our own space in Bihar… the path may be longer,” Wasnik told reporters here.

He said “it was a conscious decision”.

Wasnik admitted that after the mandate it would be “a tough time for Congress in Bihar”.

Only one of the party’s nine legislators in the previous assembly won and the party’s tally went down by five.

Wasnik said he took full responsibility for the results in the state and refuted the contention that party general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s “magic” failed to work.

He said the visits of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi benefited the party and enthused the workers and the party will find out why support in their rallies could not be turned into votes.