By Manoj Pathak

Patna, Jul 7 (IANS): Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, state Congress Election Campaign Committee Chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Singh has said that the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) comprising his party, RJD, HAM etc will decide its chief ministerial candidate through consultations.

However, he pointed out, the chief ministerial candidate will be from the largest party in the Mahagathbandhan.

On the formation of a coordination committee in the Grand Alliance, Singh said: "The panel must be set up to build a consensus among constituents of the alliance. The Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress have been together for many years. There is coordination, only then they have been able to work together."

Speaking to IANS, he reiterated that no party had left the Mahagathbandhan on the issue of coordination committee. "Everyone involved in the alliance will fight the elections together, because the people of Bihar are looking for an alternative."

The people of Bihar, Singh added, were unhappy with the JU-D-led government and were looking for an alternative.

The former Union minister denied there was any dispute in the Grand Alliance over the candidate for the chief minister's post.

"Within the next one month, everything will be clear from seat distribution to the leader of the alliance. None of the ally parties is going anywhere," Singh asserted.

As for Congress organisational structure in place for the coming elections, he admitted the fact that no new organisational committees had so far been formed even at the district level to strategise for the poll campaign.

Emphasising the need for change in the Congress, he said former party president Rahul Gandhi had recently held a virtual meeting with leaders of Bihar in order to revamp the party ahead of the Assembly polls.

Singh lamented that the Nitish Kumar's government had talked about making Patna similar to Tokyo and Singapore but even two hours of rain causes waterlogging in the state capital.

The Congress leader alleged that not even a needle factory was set up in Bihar during the last 15 years.

Quoting NITI Aayog reports, he said Bihar lagged behind other states in terms of industrialization, health, and education.

The former Union minister claimed that all sugar mills in Bihar at present were closed or were on the verge of closure while during the Congress rule 27 per cent sugar produced in the country came from Bihar.

On June 24, leaders of the Grand Alliance partners in the state held a virtual meeting to discuss their poll preparation and pledged to fight the battle unitedly. Representatives of the Congress, RJD, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), Vikashsheel Insan Party (VIP), and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) had participated.