Congress president Sonia Gandhi [Images], Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar [Images] jointly addressed an election rally in Patna on Saturday and urged the people to vote for their alliance to make a new and developed Bihar.

"Give us a clear mandate to form a government in Bihar like the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre," Sonia Gandhi said in her address at the join election rally.

This is first time Sonia Gandhi addressed an election rally jointly along with Lalu.

• Complete Coverage: Bihar Polls

"As we are working together at Centre, we will work together in Bihar also," she said.

She blamed the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre for backwardness and poor growth of Bihar.

She said the UPA government at the Centre has been helping state for overall development.

Speaking earlier, Lalu urged people to support and vote the alliance to defeat communal forces in the state assembly.

Sharad Pawar said the alliance will defeat NDA as people did not want to vote for communal alliance.

57 of 243 assembly constituencies going to polls on October 18, mostly in Maoist-hit districts and five constituencies going to polls on October 21.

The Congress, NCP and the RJD have formed the Secular Democratic Front and decided to contest the polls on a common manifesto.

The other partner of SDF, the Communist Party of India-Marxist is contesting on its own manifesto.