New Delhi: After the Bihar defeat in which the Congress was found to be the weakest link in the Grand Alliance, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has started taking stock of poll preparedness in the states where the party is likely to go with an alliance partner.
Last week Rahul Gandhi took stock of the West Bengal poll preparedness and on Monday he held a meeting with Assam and Tamil Nadu Congress leaders. He took feedback from the leaders about the alliances.
Sources say in Assam after the demise of its tallest leader Tarun Gogoi, the Congress may work out an alliance with the AIUDF to counter the BJP after the NRC fiasco. However, the final decision will be taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Sources said the BJP government in Assam is likely to bank on the NRC and CAA issues, which had paid the party rich dividends in the stste.
While in Tamil Nadu the Congress already has an alliance with the DMK, stitching together a larger alliance is necessary sources said to defeat the AIADMK which will be fighting its first election without its charismatic leader, late Jayalalithaa.
While in Assam the Congress will be the senior partner, in Tamil Nadu the party won in the Lok Sabha polls along with the DMK, but the challenge is to defeat the AIADMK which has announced its alliance with the BJP will go on. After the Congress defeat in Bihar which led to the fall of the Grand Alliance the party will have a tough task to get more seats.
The Congress’ tallest leader in the state P Chidambaram had also said after the Bihar elections that the party should not have fought on too many seats.
On Friday, the Congress state leadership along with state in-charge Jitin Prasada had a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, in which the state leaders gave a feedback to Gandhi about the current political situation in the state.
Sources say Rahul Gandhi listened to all the leaders carefully and asked about the election preparedness in the state which is going to the polls next year.
The sources say that Congress state leaders have held informal talks with the Left parties but the final decision will be taken by Sonia Gandhi.
