As Presidential election is due in July the opposition is in a hurry in choosing their candidate to contest.
Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi’s bid to run for President was recently was turned down by veteran politician Sharad Pawar.
Bihar’s Lalu Prasad Yadav whose Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) party is an ally of Congress have assured Sonia Gandhi that he will back any candidate chosen by Sonia Gandhi without questioning.
“Madam, you take the decision and we are with you,” Lalu Yadav told Mrs Gandhi when she phoned him on Wednesday. Sonia Gandhi, however, told Mr Yadav that she would not be able to attend the mega rally of opposition parties that he plans in August as her frail health keeps her from travelling out of Delhi.
Yadav then requested the presence at his rally of Sonia Gandhi’s son and deputy Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi, however, does not share his mother’s enthusiasm in counting Lalu Prasad Yadav among the Congress’ chief allies. He has distanced himself from Mr Yadav over the many corruption cases against him and had in 2013 famously torn up a copy of a draft law that could’ve prevented Lalu Yadav, convicted in one of the cases, from being banned from contesting elections.
The Congress was in power at the Centre then and Mr Gandhi’s public disapproval meant that the Ordinance or executive order would not see the light of day. Mr Yadav is barred from holding public office and cannot contest elections for six years. He has been known to take jibes at Mr Gandhi in private, including alleging that the Congress leader surrounds himself with acolytes and “sons of rajas and maharajas.”
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