Patna:
With barely five months left for the big test in 2014, the Congress has been forced to get back to the drawing board following the 4-0 drubbing in the assembly polls. A major part of that planning would be alliances, especially in Bihar, where the party is faced with a tough choice between long-time ally Lalu Prasad and his arch-rival, Nitish Kumar.
The Congress has been seen warming up to Mr Kumar, Bihar's Chief Minister, ever since his JD(U) ended its nearly two-decade-long marriage with the BJP over Narendra Modi, the party's prime ministerial candidate. Mr Kumar has consistently questioned Mr Modi's secular credentials over the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.
But with Mr Prasad likely to be released from jail soon - the Supreme Court granted him bail on Friday in a fodder scam case - the Congress now faces a major predicament.
Sources say that leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Kapil Sibal are of the view that Mr Prasad's RJD is the party's best bet going into 2014. Lalu Prasad, on his part, has reportedly made it clear that he won't repeat the blunder in 2009 when he broke ties with the Congress just ahead of the general election and ended up with just four seats. This time, he is reportedly willing to agree to the Congress' demands on seat-sharing.
Leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh, though, believe that not aligning with Mr Kumar will send out a wrong signal to secular forces.
But it is Congress No.2 Rahul Gandhi's public position against convicted lawmakers that has put the party in a quandary. In September, Mr Gandhi had dramatically trashed an ordinance to protect convicted MPs and MLAs from a Supreme Court ruling as "complete nonsense". It was the same ruling that saw Mr Prasad being disqualified as an MP after he was convicted of corruption.
An alliance with Mr Prasad would then be seen as Mr Gandhi deviating from his stand and, effectively, aligning with politicians accused of corruption, an issue that cost the Congress heavily in the assembly polls.
The Congress has been seen warming up to Mr Kumar, Bihar's Chief Minister, ever since his JD(U) ended its nearly two-decade-long marriage with the BJP over Narendra Modi, the party's prime ministerial candidate. Mr Kumar has consistently questioned Mr Modi's secular credentials over the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.
But with Mr Prasad likely to be released from jail soon - the Supreme Court granted him bail on Friday in a fodder scam case - the Congress now faces a major predicament.
Sources say that leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Kapil Sibal are of the view that Mr Prasad's RJD is the party's best bet going into 2014. Lalu Prasad, on his part, has reportedly made it clear that he won't repeat the blunder in 2009 when he broke ties with the Congress just ahead of the general election and ended up with just four seats. This time, he is reportedly willing to agree to the Congress' demands on seat-sharing.
Leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh, though, believe that not aligning with Mr Kumar will send out a wrong signal to secular forces.
But it is Congress No.2 Rahul Gandhi's public position against convicted lawmakers that has put the party in a quandary. In September, Mr Gandhi had dramatically trashed an ordinance to protect convicted MPs and MLAs from a Supreme Court ruling as "complete nonsense". It was the same ruling that saw Mr Prasad being disqualified as an MP after he was convicted of corruption.
An alliance with Mr Prasad would then be seen as Mr Gandhi deviating from his stand and, effectively, aligning with politicians accused of corruption, an issue that cost the Congress heavily in the assembly polls.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
