Will take call on supporting Nitish govt when time comes: Congress

PATNA: The Congress in Bihar, which allied with the RJD for the coming Lok Sabha polls, today said that it would take a call on whether to support the JD(U) government in the state when there was a confidence vote.

"We will decide when the state government seeks a confidence vote in future," Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Ashok Choudhary said when asked if his party would continue to support the Nitish Kumar government after allying with his known detractor and RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

Asked why there was a dilemma, he said jokingly, "We use blankets only in winter and not in summer."

Four Congress MLAs had voted for the Kumar government to help it win confidence vote on June 19 last year after separation from the BJP.

Choudhary also criticised Kumar for making special category status for the state a 'ploy' to garner votes in the general elections.

He denied Kumar's allegation that the Congress had put the issue into cold storage under pressure of ally RJD.

The Raghuram Rajan committee report had suggested greater financial assistance for a poor state like Bihar which the UPA government did, he said.

"While the NDA government which was in power at the time of partition of Bihar had provided financial assistance of Rs 7793 crore, the UPA government in the last 10 years had provided Rs 1.42 lakh crore to the state," he said.

He said future Congress government at the Centre would provide more financial assistance to Bihar and the state unit would also fight for it to get special category status.

The BPCC chief justified the alliance with RJD to check "communal forces" and alleged that the JD(U) during its partnership with BJP had helped in opening more RSS camps.

He also said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi would tour Bihar after Holi.

He was, however, not categorical if Rahul Gandhi would share a platform with the RJD chief.