RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav announced that his party would "expand its base" beyond Bihar, moving away from its earlier policy of refraining from contesting polls in other states to avoid division of "secular votes". The former Bihar deputy chief minister was addressing a function here on Tuesday to mark the 38th death anniversary of Karpoori Thakur, the political mentor of his father and RJD founding president Lalu Prasad.

"From March, we will embark on a drive to strengthen the party. Lalu Prasad had made the RJD a major force in the state. We must take his work forward and aspire to achieving the status of a national party," said Yadav. "In the days to come, we will try to expand our base not just in Bihar but also in other states, where we had so far not been entering the fray to help our allies so that there is no division in secular votes," he added.