NEW DELHI: Even as the Election Commission of India (EC) is all set to announce the poll dates for the high-octane Bihar Assembly election in the first week of October, the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance is preparing to finalise the seat-sharing deal in the coming days despite some hard bargaining from partners.
Sources indicated that the seat-sharing talks are entering the final stage, with most parties working on the number of seats they plan to contest.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and the Left parties, which formed the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar in the last Assembly polls, had contested on 144, 70, and 29 seats respectively.
A top RJD source said all parties now need to accommodate the new alliance partners in the form of Mukesh Sahni-led Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP), Pashupatinath Paras-led LJP, and others.
The sources said that the seat-sharing talks are expected to be complete by the first week of October and announced jointly by the senior leadership of all parties.
The RJD, the source added, will contest at least 135 seats, giving away roughly nine assembly seats for new partners, while Congress is expected to settle for 60-62 seats and the Left parties will get 29-30 seats.
When asked how many seats the VIP and Paras-led party will contest, he said the Sahni-led VIP might receive between 12-14 seats, while the LJP will get around two to three seats, drawn from the quotas of Congress and the RJD.
The source noted that the final tally of the seat-sharing formula still needs to be formalised by the senior leadership, as the coordination committee had already met and discussed multiple times.
Congress had earlier hinted publicly about accommodating new partners from its own quota of seats but also demanded that strong and weak constituencies be distributed fairly among all alliance members in the state.
Even as the Election Commission is poised to announce the poll dates for the 243-member Assembly, likely on October 4, the Mahagathbandhan is hopeful that by then the seat-sharing talks will be concluded, allowing all partners to start announcing their candidates.
Congress general secretary Dr Syed Naseer Hussain on Thursday, while addressing a press conference in the state, hinted that the party will lead the campaigning in Bihar for the INDIA bloc and take full responsibility for forming the next government. This marks a dramatic shift in Congress strategy over the last three decades, during which it has remained out of power in the state. In previous elections, Congress had largely followed the RJD in Bihar.
The party has also planned an aggressive campaign with multiple public meetings featuring Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the coming days.
Priyanka Gandhi, who joined Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, had kicked off her campaign with a Mahila Samvaad at the state party headquarters, Sadaqat Ashram, and a large public meeting in Champaran’s Motihari.
Party sources stressed that Congress is in no mood for a slow campaign and will launch a direct assault highlighting the failures of the Nitish Kumar-led government in the state, including allegations of vote theft.
The Mahagathbandhan aims to wrest power from the NDA, even as the BJP prepares its own aggressive campaign featuring star campaigners such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and several other top leaders.
Modi and Shah have already made several visits to Bihar in recent weeks and launched multiple schemes aimed at countering anti-incumbency sentiment.
