Seat-Sharing Tussle in Bihar's Mahagathabandhan, Congress-RJD Stake Claim on Same Seats

Patna: As the Election Commission has announced poll dates, the two crucial players of the Opposition's INDI alliance- Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal are yet to arrive on a consensus as far as seat-sharing is considered. 

Among the 40 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress has reportedly been adamant on contesting at least 10 seats, while the RJD is yet to decide about the Congress' share in the alliance. Reports said that Tejashwi Yadav is scheduled to meet the Congress top brass, where he may demand over 38 seats in Bihar.

Congress-RJD in Conflict Over There Seats 

The major issue is regarding seats where all the partners of the Opposition alliance- Congress, RJD and Left parties have sizeable influence, which includes- East Champaran, Nawada, Hajipur, Katihar, Begusarai and Gopalganj. 

On the issue of alliance, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, ho came here from Mumbai after attending a rally organised by the opposition INDIA bloc at Shivaji Park, said that most issues had been sorted and there were issues only on one or two seats left. 

"Everything will be decided in two-three days. It is in the final stages. There are some issues over a seat or two, but everything will be sorted out," Yadav told reporters here.

BJP in Huddle To Keep Allies Together 

While the two seats- Begusarai and Hajipur are also priority seats for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance as it aims another clean sweep in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, similar to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Hajipur seat is with Pashupati Paras, while BJP's Giriraj Singh is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai.

While LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said that his party has finalised a sharing formula with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls, his uncle Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party president Pashupati Paras said that doors are open for him and he may take a call if he is not respected within the INDI alliance. 

“We have not had any discussion with anyone if you are speaking about INDIA Alliance. No, never. We have not spoken with anyone. There are 5 MPs in our party. NDA Alliance should have followed the 'sitting-getting goal'. But justice was not done to our party. Until the list of NDA Alliance in Bihar is published, we will wait. I also urge their central leadership to reconsider,” said Pashupati Kumar Paras. 

A Look Back at NDA's Clean Sweep in 2019 

In the last elections, the JDU-BJP alliance had achieved a resounding victory pushing Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal to zero. It was the first general elections when Lalu Prasad Yadav led-RJD draw a blank in Bihar. The BJP won 17 seats, while its allies Nitish Kumar led-JDU and Ram Vilas Pawan's Lok Janshakti Party won 16 and 6 seats each.