Patna: Senior Bihar Congress leaders today (Sep 25, 2004) threatened to snap the party's ties with State's ruling RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) if it failed to live up to the aspirations of the masses.

''We will break our ties with the RJD if it fails to protect the people's interests,'' senior Congress leaders asserted and asked the partymen to get united for a better showing in the coming Assembly elections due early next year.

''People are disillusioned with the politics of caste and religion which lead to hatred and are relying on the Congress which alone is capable of providing good governance for salvation,'' AICC (All India Congress Committee) in-charge for Bihar Harikesh Bahadur said addressing "a Vijay Rally" organised by the party to mark the culmination of the State Congress' 23-day-long road show-cum-public contact programme to mobilise people's support for the poll.

Speaking on the occasion, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Ramjatan Sinha said the 1500-odd big and small meetings in 50 Assembly segments had demonstrated that the party was in a position to stand on its own and regain its glory.

AICC secretaries Harikesh Bahadur and Iqbal Singh appreciated the BPCC's programmes, which they felt would succeed in ending the ''ill will and distance among different sections of the society''.