Sonia on tie-up: We know our responsibility

Seeking clear mandate for the Congress-RJD led Secular Democratic Front, Sonia said, “Unclear mandate opens doors to horse trading, which is a bad thing for a state having a great tradition of healthy politics.”

Making an indirect reference to the failures of the RJD government, Sonia said she understood the problems of law and order and shortage of power and water that the people of the state were facing but added that these could not be solved in a day.

Attacking the NDA, she said its previous government did not provide Bihar enough Central assistance. “I feel sad that Bihar, which once taught the nation lessons in development and good governance, is steeped in backwardness. We will have to find a way out,” she said.

Later, addressing a joint rally of the SDF leaders in Patna, she sought people’s support for building a “new Bihar” as she shared stage with RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav at an election meeting here. The rally was not attended by any representative of the CPM.

“The UPA government has made a new beginning and now Bihar needs a similar government to launch the state on the path of development”, she said.

The Congress president, however, refrained from saying anything against UPA partner Ram Vilas Paswan.

RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav promised reservation in jobs for the Muslims.