Tejashwi Yadav named Mahagathbandhan’s CM face for Bihar polls as Congress relents after weeks of seat-sharing rifts; Mukesh Sahani picked as deputy CM candidate.
Tejashwi declared CM face; Congress gives in to RJD pressure (Image: PTI)
New Delhi: It’s official. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav will lead the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan as its Chief Ministerial face in Bihar’s high-stakes Assembly election. After weeks of seat-sharing disputes and uneasy coordination among allies, Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced the decision at a joint press conference in Patna, calling Tejashwi “young” and “committed,” while challenging the BJP to name its own candidate. Gehlot was sent to Patna by the party leadership team to assuage the angry Tejashwi.
The announcement comes barely two weeks before the state votes in the first phase on 6 November — a late and reluctant climbdown by the Congress, which had resisted projecting any single leader. The party had argued that a “no-face” campaign would help draw support from non-Yadav communities, especially the EBC and BC blocs wary of RJD’s caste core.
As The Sunday Guardian had reported earlier, RJD had come under fire within the alliance for refusing to adopt a flexible approach — insisting on contesting more than 140 seats and leaving fewer, often weaker constituencies, for the Congress.
Congress atate in-charge Krishna Allavaru was sent to Bihar with a clear mandate from party leader Rahul Gandhi: to strengthen the party’s ground organisation and avoid excessive compromise.
Today’s announcement suggests that neither of those objectives has been fully met, despite his best efforts.
The alliance also named Mukesh Sahani, chief of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), as the Deputy Chief Ministerial candidate — a move that many within the bloc see as premature.
With party leaders negotiating positions even before a single vote has been cast, the Mahagathbandhan looks more focused on internal gains than on building a coherent electoral narrative.
While the decision is being celebrated as a personal victory for Tejashwi Yadav and the RJD, it exposes the deeper tensions within the Opposition front. Seat-sharing talks had already turned bitter, with both parties fielding their own candidates in at least a dozen constituencies.
