Lalu meets Sonia, seeks ties for Jharkhand polls

Buoyed by the Bihar assembly by-poll results, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi pleading for a secular alliance for the assembly elections in Jharkhand that is due soon.

Prasad met Gandhi for over 30 minutes and was accompanied by his close associate and former union minister Premchand Gupta.

Later, Gupta said secular parties like RJD and Congress should come together in the tribal dominated state where elections are due early next year.

The RJD, the Lok Janshakti Party and the Congress combine bagged 11 of the 18 seats in the recently concluded Bihar assembly by-elections, giving a jolt to the Janata Dal-United-led National Democratic Alliance government in the state.

Gupta rubbished questions that Lalu met Gandhi in the wake of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee planning to institute a Criminal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged job scam in the railway ministry during his tenure.

"The issue did not come up," he said.