Bihar bypolls: RJD to contest both seats, ‘humiliated’ Cong mulls over fielding its candidates

The announcement came as shock to the party, as we were following the coalition dharma and was preparing for the Kushweshwar Asthan seat, which was allocated to the Congress under the seat adjustment among the opposition alliance during the 2020 assembly elections, says BPCC chief Madan Mohan Jha.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has decided to field its candidates from both Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur in the by-election, which is scheduled to be held on October 30.

Bihar RJD president Jagdanand Singh releases the list for party candidates for the assembly by-election, at party office in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Following the nod by RJD chief Lalu Prasad, the party’s state president Jagdanand Singh Sunday announced the names of Arun Shah and Ganesh Bharati from Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan, respectively.

The death of lawmakers representing the two seats necessitated the bypolls.

Meanwhile, close on the heels of the RJD’s listing of its candidates, the Congress on Sunday said that it was also contemplating fielding its nominees for both the seats.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Madan Mohan Jha said that the party has almost finalised its candidate for the Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seat in Darbhanga reserved for the scheduled caste, while the consultations were underway to decide the candidate for Tarapur constituency in Munger.

“However, the final decision on naming the candidates would be taken by the party high command, who has been apprised about the developments, post the RJD’s decision to field its nominees on both the seats,” said Jha.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge, Bihar, Bhakta Charan Das, could not be contacted for his comments. Leaders close to him said that Das, who is currently in Manipur, would make the formal announcement about the next course of action upon consultations with AICC chief Sonia Gandhi in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, the RJD chief took the Congress by surprise with the announcement of the names of the nominees.

“The announcement came as shock to the party, as we were following the coalition dharma and was preparing for the Kusheshwar Asthan seat, which was allocated to the Congress under the seat adjustment among the opposition alliance during the 2020 assembly elections,” said Jha.

Former Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Ashok Kumar had contested from Kusheshwar Asthan and lost the elections to the Janata Dal (United) leader Shashi Bhushan Hazari by a margin of little over 7,000 votes in the last assembly polls. RJD’s candidate Divya Prakash was also defeated by the JD(U)’s candidate Mewalal Chaudhary at Tarapur constituency by almost an equal margin.

Ashok Kumar said the party has been watching the developments and if required, would contest both the seats going to bypolls. “I have been the claimant, as I have nurtured the seat. It is like humiliating the Congress. Our party vice president Rahul Gandhi’s decision will be final in this regard and we are preparing for both seats,” he said.

Senior Congress leader Kishore Kumar Jha also said that the party must assert its position and contest both the seats to give a message among the cadres that it would not compromise on its self-respect. “Ashok Kumar is a popular leader and he lost the polls due to malpractices resorted to by the ruling alliance. The Congress is at the crossroads and it must decide what to do now, as the RJD has stabbed in its back,” said Kishore Jha.

A section of the senior party leaders, including a former BPCC chief, said that being a national party with a presence in all villages across the state had no dearth of capable leaders. “But cadres of the party have been lying low owing to its propensity for the alliance politics in Bihar. The party’s tally in the assembly declined, as it was not offered to the seats of its choice and had to contest those areas that were not familiar to the contestants,” said another senior leader.

Meanwhile, RJD state president Singh said both the candidates of the party were nominees of the grand alliance, insisting that the party has a strong base in both the seats and would win. “Our objective is to win. The grand alliance is intact, there are no differences of any kind,” he said.