PATNA, Jan. 24 -- In a clear effort to scotch weeks of speculation about possible defections, all six of the Congress party's MLAs from Bihar met with national president Mallikarjun Kharge at his Delhi residence on Friday. Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, joined the gathering, signalling strong backing from the party's top leadership.

The meeting comes at a sensitive time for the party in the state. Following the last assembly elections, where the party was reduced to just six seats in the 243-member House, rumours have circulated that the entire group might switch to the ruling NDA - particularly the JD(U) - as part of efforts to make the state "Congress-free."

The NDA, led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, re...