Will contest elections in Bihar, but party will decide when to contest, AAP said. (Representational)
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha reacting to Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) announcement of contesting upcoming elections in Bihar said that during the foundation of INDIA bloc, some principles were laid down and he hopes that AAP would adhere to those.
AAP's general secretary Sandeep Pathak also held a meeting with the leaders of the Bihar organization in Delhi on Saturday regarding AAP's announcement of contesting the election. Notably, Bihar will undergo the assembly elections in 2025.
"We will contest elections in Bihar, but the party will decide when to contest. We cannot contest elections directly in Bihar, for that we have to strengthen the organization first. We will have to form our own committee in every village. We have to work hard from now itself to strengthen and expand the organization. Once the organization becomes strong, then we will contest elections and win too," Mr Pathak said during the meeting.
Reacting to Mr Pathak's statement RJD MP Manoj Jha said, "When the foundation of the INDIA alliance was being laid down some principles were formed. There was a detailed talk held about these principles. Keeping aside this statement, I think they (AAP) will adhere to those principles."
In regard to the same, an MLA from JD(U) which has an alliance with RJD in the state said that every party has the right to expand itself. However, in contrast to his initial statement, he said differences between INDIA alliances within the states will be resolved over a period of time.
"Every party has the right to expand itself...We also expand to other states...Both Mallikarjun Kharge as well as Sanjay Singh have clearly stated that we will fight together...The differences of the INDIA alliance within the states will be resolved over the period of time," said, JD(U) MLA Neeraj Kumar.
Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar speaking on INDIA alliance meeting to be held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 said, "I will be going there and nothing personal that I want, I just want to unite everyone. I will be going and some more parties will be joining the alliance."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)