The Congress on Friday announced its exit from the Opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar and vowed to go solo in future elections, accusing the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of causing the tie-up to fall apart over a bypoll seat.

“The Congress is no longer a part of the Grand Alliance in Bihar. The RJD forced us to leave by deciding to contest the Kusheshwar Asthan seat in the (October 30) bypoll. We gave the RJD a chance to withdraw their candidate but it didn’t do so,” AICC Bihar in-charge Bhakta Charan Das said.

Das asserted that the Congress would now decide its own course in Bihar and prepare to “contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general election”.

However, Das said the Congress would welcome all like-minded socialist, democratic and secular parties in its effort to counter the NDA.

The Congress is the fourth largest party in Bihar with 19 MLAs. The Grand Alliance led by Lalu Prasad’s RJD has 110 MLAs.

The bypolls to the Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur Assembly seats are scheduled on October 30. Both seats were won by the JDU in the 2020 Assembly elections but fell vacant after the deaths of their representatives.

The RJD unilaterally announced its candidates for the two seats despite the fact that the Congress had contested Kusheshwar Asthan in the 2020 Assembly elections. The Congress considers the area its stronghold.

The RJD reacted sharply to the Congress’s decision to quit the Grand Alliance.

“Congress leaders do not realise the ground reality in Bihar. They should not shoot their mouth off without understanding the situation. Leaders like Das are responsible for the poor condition of the Congress,” RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary said.

The Pappu Yadav-led Jan Adhikar Party on Friday said it would support the Congress in the bypolls and also in future elections.