New Delhi: Fissures within the opposition INDIA bloc have begun to show, primarily over Congress’s push for a greater and more decisive role than what it had in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections. Seizing the initiative, Congress has sought to reposition itself by using Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Rights Yatra as a tool to project both relevance and bargaining strength within the alliance. “Every major decision related to this yatra has been taken by Congress, with other allies merely following the lead,” a senior Congress functionary noted, hinting that the party is determined to secure a stronger say in critical matters such as seat distribution.
With another round of the coordination committee meeting of the INDIA bloc slated for September 15, the seat-sharing arrangement has emerged as a major test of the alliance’s cohesion. For Congress, Rahul Gandhi’s tour has already served its purpose of signalling that the party, despite electoral setbacks, retains bargaining leverage in Bihar politics. For RJD, the tightrope walk involves accommodating its partners’ aspirations without undermining its own central authority in the coalition.
Significantly, Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Rights Yatra was designed with the clear intent of making Congress’s presence felt within the bloc, insiders revealed. The underlying aim is to pressurize the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) into softening its stance on seat-sharing. In the previous Assembly elections of 2020, RJD had allocated Congress roughly 30 to 35 constituencies—most of them seats where the alliance had consistently underperformed for three to four successive polls. The outcome was a poor strike rate, which invited sharp criticism from RJD. This time, however, Congress has conveyed that it is unwilling to compromise easily. Even if it eventually accepts fewer seats than it initially demanded, the party is firm about contesting from constituencies of its choice—ones where it believes it has realistic winning prospects.
Congress’s internal assessment has pinpointed nearly 25 constituencies, currently held either by RJD or the Left parties, where it feels it is in a stronger position. These identified seats, coupled with its existing bases, constitute the heart of the 75-85 seat wishlist the party has submitted to the coordination committee.
A political analyst closely tracking Bihar’s dynamics told The Sunday Guardian that the Mahagathbandhan’s coordination committee has already met five times, yet the talks have stalled at the stage of exchanging constituency lists. RJD, under Tejashwi Yadav’s leadership, has largely maintained a wait-and-watch posture. Negotiations with AIMIM have collapsed, while JMM and Pashupati Kumar Paras’s RLSP do not pose significant challenges, the analyst added. At the same time, RJD’s cautious delay has been compounded by fresh demands from its allies. Following the Congress template, the Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) too has put forward an extensive list of constituencies, further complicating matters. He added, RJD, observers believe, is deliberately dragging its feet until the NDA finalizes its own seat-sharing pact. However, they caution that with the election notification expected by mid-September, the scope for deferring decisions is quickly narrowing.
As Bihar heads for elections scheduled between mid-October and November, the political stage is rapidly heating up. Both the NDA and the INDIA bloc have begun their campaigns in earnest, yet the crucial seat-sharing formula—especially within the opposition alliance—remains unresolved.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD had contested 143 of the 243 seats, leaving 70 for Congress. The CPI(ML) was given 19 seats, while CPI and CPM together received 11. With that arrangement as the backdrop, a senior RJD leader, requesting anonymity, told The Sunday Guardian that this time the party is considering fielding candidates in nearly 160 constituencies. Under the proposed plan, Congress may be offered around 55–60 seats, CPI(ML) about 15, and the remaining seats would be distributed among the other alliance partners.
