Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met RJD president Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the LoP in the Bihar Assembly, at Lalu's residence in Patna, signalling a thaw in the frosty ties between the two key INDIA bloc allies. The relations between the Congress and the RJD have been strained in recent weeks, especially after Lalu supported the proposal of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee being made the leader of the INDIA alliance. The two parties also sparred over some other issues while positioning themselves for tough negotiations and hard bargaining for seat-sharing for the Bihar Assembly elections due in October-November 2025. It was Tejashwi, who first reached out to Rahul at a Patna hotel where the Congress leader had checked in after landing in the city to attend a “Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan”. Incidentally, the RJD's national executive meeting was being held at the same hotel Saturday. As Tejashwi got to know about Rahul's arrival in the hotel, he came out of the party's conclave to greet him and extend an invitation to visit his parents' residence. Accepting his invite, Rahul visited Lalu's 10, Circular Road residence later in the day, where the RJD chief greeted him with a bouquet. Lalu's wife and ex-chief minister Rabri Devi presented a shawl to Rahul. Other children of Lalu and Rabri including Pataliputra MP Misa Bharati, her sister Rohini Acharya and their brother and ex-minister Tej Pratap Yadav were also present to welcome Rahul, who stayed at their house for about 20 minutes and had some “desi snacks”, sources said. RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta told The Indian Express, "Though it was an informal meeting, there was a lot of warmth from both sides. Our political rivals had been trying to create perceptions of differences between Congress and RJD. Rahul ji's meeting with our top leaders has cleared the air. RJD and Congress have been old allies and both parties have their separate policies and programmes.” Congress spokesperson Gyan Ranjan Gupta said: "Rahul ji and Lalu ji have been meeting each other in the past as well. The present meeting also exuded warmth and camaraderie.” Referring to the Congress leader's brief visit to the state party headquarters in Patna during the day, Gupta said, “Rahul ji, who also briefly addressed party workers, has motivated the cadre. He asked us to fight RSS and BJP together and also raised concerns over paper leaks. He also appealed to CM Nitish Kumar to speak to protesting Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) students." Addressing the conference on the Constitution, Rahul said the Congress will push for a nationwide caste census and demand raising the reservation limit to beyond the existing 50 per cent cap. Meanwhile, the RJD national executive meeting hailed Tejashwi's leadership, stating that "From being instrumental in formation of INDIA bloc to being firm on socialism, secularism and social justice, he (Tejashwi) has left an indelible mark on the new generation". The RJD conclave underlined that the party would work towards ensuring that the next Bihar government was formed under Tejashwi's leadership. Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui said while Lalu has continued to remain “very popular across the country”, former Deputy CM Tejashwi has “emerged as a national leader".
