Patna, September 20
RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, today said the two parties had strong bonds and that like-minded secular forces should come together to keep the NDA at bay.

“I have a strong bond with Sonia Gandhi ji... whatever may come I will never abandon her,” Prasad, whose meeting with Sonia in New Delhi yesterday fuelled speculation that he met the Congress chief in the wake of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s reported plan to seek a CBI inquiry into the alleged job scam in that ministry during his tenure.

Pitching for a secular alliance in Jharkhand and Bihar, the RJD leader urged Sonia for bringing like-minded secular parties together to keep the NDA at bay.

The RJD leader said a secular alliance in Bihar and Jharkhand was the need of the hour to keep the communal forces out. “I discussed the matter and we are waiting for a positive response,” he said.

Lalu’s meeting with Gandhi came close on the heels of the recent visit of members of an AICC committee to Jharkhand to assess the ground situation there and find out with whom the party could align.

In the Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand, the Congress had entered into an alliance with the JMM, dumping the RJD. — PTI