Lalu meets Sonia, expresses grouse in Nitish-ruled Bihar

New Delhi, July 6: RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Tuesday sought to build bridges with Congress by meeting party chief Sonia Gandhi and complaining to her about the state of affairs in Nitish Kumar-ruled Bihar.

Meeting her on the 15th foundation day of the RJD, Lalu Prasad, whose party was the second largest constituent in UPA-I but is just an outside supporter in UPA-II, told Gandhi about the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state.

RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta, who accompanied Lalu Prasad, said that Gandhi heard with concern the situation caused by the police firing at Forbesganj.

Prasad also apprised her of the precarious power situation in Bihar as also the imminent danger of floods, Gupta told PTI.

Congress and RJD had seperately contested the Bihar Assembly elections in November last year. It had witnessed the worst drubbing for the RJD which had been ruling the state for a number of years till 2005. Congress also won merely four of the 243 seats despite Rahul Gandhi virtually leading the campaign.

Congress and RJD have parted ways since the last Lok Sabha elections with Lalu along with Lok Janshakti Party headed by Ram Vilas Paswan joining hands to contest all seats in the Parliamentary polls.

AICC office bearers as also state Congress leaders do not see any possibility of the two parties working together in Bihar, where Congress had played a second fiddle to RJD for a number of years.

RJD has four members in the current Lok Sabha as against 27 in the previous one which had helped the Congress-led UPA to come to power for the first time in May 2004 as the ''feel good'' balloon of the BJP-led NDA got punctured.

A report from Patna said the foundation day celebrations of the RJD there were a low key affair.

PTI