New Delhi, September 18
RJD strongman Akhilesh Singh today resigned from the primary membership of his party in Patna and went public with his intentions of joining the Congress, right on the footsteps of former RJD leader and union minister Nagmani.

The other interesting development took place in Delhi when two senior leaders from rival JD(U) approached the Congress for tickets for their wards.

Party sources said JD(U) leaders Ramairam and Jaynaraynan Nishad wrote to Mukul Wasnik, Congress in charge of Bihar affairs, asking for tickets for their sons. Apparently, they are not just looking at the grand old party as a good career option for their sons but also do not rule out its possible revival in Bihar.

Another speculation doing rounds in political circles is that after Sadhu Yadav, Lalu Prasad’s other brother-in-law Subhash Yadav, too, is willing to join the Congress.

The Congress is eyeing a big game in Bihar this time and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi - the biggest crowd puller that the party has seen in recent times - is all set for a second visit to the state around September 28.

The party is banking heavily on Rahul’s charisma to revive the fortunes of the party in the Hindi heartland and while his itinerary has not yet been made public, insiders say this time his target will be central Bihar region.

Rahul had visited Saharsa and Samastipur on September 4 to kick off the election campaign for his party for the coming Assembly polls.

While Congress leaders are positive that the “Rahul magic” will work in Bihar, they are also busy wooing strongmen from other parties and dabbling in “social engineering” to ensure all pieces fit perfectly in the great caste jigsaw puzzle that Bihar politics is.

So even though party leaders go blue in face denying it, the fact is that influence of “outsiders” is growing in Bihar Congress.

Asked whether a dearth of leaders in the Congress in Bihar is responsible for the party importing politicians from outside, party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said: “It happens during elections. It is true that the number of those joining the Congress from other parties has increased. I think it is a positive sign.” However, he was clear that the party would not sacrifice the interests of those who have stuck with it in thick and thin for the sake of outsiders.

And now that it has decided to go alone, the party’s main attempt is to garner support of backward classes - the mainstay of support for RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD(U) head Nitish Kumar. That is possibly the reason why the Congress is continuing to keep Lalu’s controversial brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav in good humour despite a section in the state unit angry over his growing influence in the party.