New Delhi: Even as the nominations for the first phase got over, the deadlock over seat sharing in the Mahagathbandhan or the Grand Alliance is going on as the parties have still not been able to finalise a formula and partners have fielded candidates against each other on multiple seats.
The Grand Alliance has been claiming that it is united and stands together to dethrone the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar and have broadly fielded joint Opposition candidates on the majority of seats. But since a deadlock continues over several seats, many friendly contests are now on cards.
The impasse over the seat sharing has made Grand Alliance lagging behind NDA just ahead of the crucial assembly battle. The NDA has displayed much better coordination by declaring the number of seats allocated to each partner and ensuring no friendly contests amongst themselves.
Sources said that in Vaishali, the RJD has fielded Ajay Kumar Kushwaha and the Congress named Sanjeev Kumar. Similarly, in Tarapur, RJD’s Arun Shah is facing VIP’s Sakaldeo Bind.
While in Bachwara, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has fielded Abdesh Kumar Rai, the Congress has named Shiv Prakash Garib Das.
Even in Gaura-Bauram assembly seat, VIP chief Mukesh Sahani has fielded his younger brother Santosh Sahani, whereas the RJD has fielded Afzal Ali Khan. In Lalganj also, the RJD has given the party ticket to Shivani Shukla, while the Congress has named Aditya Kumar Raja. There is also a contest between the CPI’s Mohit Paswan and the Congress’s Pratima Kumari in Rajapakar. In Rosera, Laxman Paswan of the CPI is pitted against the Congress’s Braj Kishore K Ravi.
What surprised many was the RJD fielding its own candidate Suresh Paswan against Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram from Kutumba (SC) seat. However, the RJD is yet to announce Suresh Paswan as its official candidate.
But what led to such a situation in the Mahagathbandhan, which was claiming all was well within the camp? Sources said that this was written on the wall for months ever since Congress appointed Krishna Allavaru as its incharge for Bihar Congress and new state unit Chief Rajesh Ram almost nine months back.
A source said that from the beginning, Allavaru, who is considered very close to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, maintained a tough posture towards RJD.
With his working style, first he sidelined many of the Congress leaders who had a soft corner for the RJD, which made the Congress walk a tightrope over the seat sharing deal.
The source further explained that the sidelining of Congress leaders with a tilt towards the RJD faced a less chance for any kind of mediation when the delicate and complex seat sharing talks began.
Sources said that Rajesh Ram, CLP Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Allavaru even managed to convince the top brass of the party in Delhi that the Congress was like a pillion rider with no control on the decisions and no say in deciding seats citing the 2020 Assembly polls as an example, where the party was given weak seats that led to its poor performance.
They also apprised the top brass of the party that if it wanted to revive its fortunes in the state and to be in condition to narrate its demand then it was the right time to reclaim the party’s stronghold and bastions, so that it could come in position to increase its foothold in the politically sensitive state.
However, this led to several party leaders getting angry with the incharge and state unit chief.
A senior Congress leader even questioned the working style of Allavaru and Rajesh Ram and accused them of not consulting the senior party leaders and MPs to participate in seat sharing talks and over candidate selection.
Despite the fact that the Congress agreed to reduce its seat number from 70 to 60–61 seats to adjust the new partners, it refused to give away seats claimed by allies, citing them as its old traditional seats. This led to substantial delay and fights between the partners on several seats, even as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi spoke to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav over phone to clear the deadlock. However, things did not change and without seat sharing the Congress announced 48 seats.
A source also said that even RJD is to be blamed for the deadlock over seat sharing due to its bossy nature.
He claimed that during the 2020 Assembly polls, RJD had contested 144 seats and this time also they wanted to contest on 130–135 assembly seats.
Explaining the formula, that the Congress was ready to let go 9 to 10 seats as compared to 2020, the RJD, which contested on almost double the seats, was also leaving only 10 to 12, which was unacceptable for the Congress, the source said.
This “bossy” attitude of the RJD did not go well with Allavaru, Rajesh Ram and Khan, who were directly in touch with the top brass and apprised them that instead of being accommodating, the RJD was not ready to budge.
The source also explained that the entry of Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) Mukesh Sahni in the alliance and his statement that he was promised Deputy Chief Ministerial post and was claiming to contest on 50 to 60 seats further complicated seat sharing talks. The source said that even though Congress has not agreed to Tejashwi Yadav as Chief Ministerial candidate, how could Sahni himself declare himself as deputy chief ministerial candidate and how his party, which has no MP and MLA, can claim 60 seats?
Even partners like Left parties further complicated seat sharing, with the CPI-ML refusing the initial offer by Tejashwi Yadav of contesting on 19 seats, saying their strike rate was best in Mahagathbandhan in 2020. CPI-ML had contested on 19 seats in 2020 and won 12 seats, therefore was aggressively batting for over 30 seats. The Left parties then fielded candidates on a few seats where Congress and RJD too have announced their candidates.
The NDA has already announced its seat sharing deal after some initial struggle, but now it seems to be in the driver’s seat.
The polling for the 243-member assembly is scheduled in two phases on November 6 and 11 and counting of votes will take place on November 14.
