Lalu meets Sonia,says alliance on

Lalu and Paswan had closed ranks ahead of the 2009 elections leaving the Congress alone in Bihar.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Tuesday called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vowed to forge RJD-Congress-LJP alliance in Bihar for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Talking to reporters after the meeting with Sonia,he admitted that he had committed a mistake during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections by ditching the Congress for an alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP.

Invoking an episode from the epic Mahabharata,he said,That time (2009 Lok Sabha elections) the Congress had demanded only five villages. It was a mistake we did not give. Now,this will not be repeated… Our alliance is already with the LJP and the Congress.

Lalu and Paswan had closed ranks ahead of the 2009 elections leaving the Congress alone in Bihar to fight the LS elections. While the Congress managed to win two seats,the LJP failed to open its account. The RJD could manage to win only four seats with Lalu himself losing one of the two seats he contested.

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The Congress president,however,is reported to have indicated no hurry to stitch the alliance.

The RJD chief said Sonia has suggested that the issue will be taken up for discussion sometime later in a months time.

To a question regarding strain in ties with the LJP over seat sharing,Lalu said,I am not angry… I am not angry with Paswan or anybody else… We are together.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday hailed the revised Goods and Services Tax (GST) structures, saying the era of “double bachat (saving) and double kamai (income)” has arrived under the Bharatiya Janata Party rule. Addressing the ' Namo Yuva Samabesh' in Jharsuguda, Modi accused the Congress of indulging in “loot tantra (tactics)” while in power.

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