PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state president Mangani Lal Mandal said on Saturday that all seats that Congress won in the recently held state assembly polls were because of RJD’s support.

The remark comes hours before a joint meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc allies in the state capital to discuss strategy for the special session of the Bihar legislature, beginning December 1.

Talking to media persons, Mandal said that if the Bihar Congress intended to adopt a 'different' way, it was free to do so.

“Congress will get to know its real strength on the ground when it fights the elections alone. RJD has a strong support base, which is reflected in the election results,” he said, adding that RJD’s alliance partners only benefit from it.

To buttress his statement, Mandal said that Congress had contested 71 seats in the previous 2020 assembly election, and it could win only 19 seats due to the continuous support of RJD.

He said the Congress reviewed the party’s poor performance in the 2025 election at a high-level meeting held in New Delhi, in which it blamed the RJD for its defeat.

Dismissing the RJD state president’s claim, Congress spokesperson Asitnath Tiwari asked, "Congress has been a spent force in Bihar, why RJD choose to contest the elections in alliance with the grand old party?"

Another Congress leader, Gyan Ranjan, said that if Mandal has to say anything, he should raise it at the right platform and not before the media.