Tejashwi Yadav named INDIA bloc’s CM candidate, Mukesh Sahani to be deputy CM face

The two-phased elections will be held on November 6 and 11, while the results will be declared on November 14.

The opposition INDIA bloc, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, on Thursday declared Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate and Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani as the deputy CM face for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Bihar leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav (left) with senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot in Patna on Thursday. (ANI)

The announcement, after weeks of intense discussions and uncertainty over seat-sharing, was made at a joint press conference in Patna by former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, in the presence of Yadav, Sahani, CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, and representatives of the CPI, CPM, and the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP).

“All allies in the INDIA bloc, including our leader Rahul Gandhi, have unanimously decided that Tejashwi Yadav will be our CM face, and we will contest the elections unitedly. Mukesh Sahani will be the deputy CM face, and there will be a few more deputy CMs representing other communities if we form the government,” Gehlot said.

The two-phased elections will be held on November 6 and 11, while the results will be declared on November 14.

Gehlot, who arrived in Patna on Wednesday, said he held discussions with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav, and other alliance partners to resolve internal disputes over multiple nominations in at least ten constituencies, where the Congress, RJD, and CPI candidates have filed papers, resulting in “friendly fights”.

He also criticised the BJP-JD(U)-led NDA, urging them to declare their chief ministerial candidate amid recent comments by Union home minister Amit Shah that NDA MLAs would decide the CM after the elections.

Tejashwi Yadav, welcoming the decision, said the NDA was being unfair to chief minister Nitish Kumar by not projecting him as their CM face. “There are a few leaders in JD(U) who want to finish the party. It is clear that the BJP does not want Nitish Kumar as their CM face,” Yadav said.

Yadav outlined his priorities if the INDIA bloc forms the government, stating that education, healthcare, employment, corruption, reducing migration, and improving law and order would be the focus. “There will be no compromise on corruption and crime. I will act even against my own people if they do anything wrong,” he said.

Tejashwi, 35, was the Mahagathbandhan’s CM face even during the 2020 elections, but the coalition fell short by around 12 seats to reach the magic figure of 122 in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

Leaders from alliance partners, including Dipankar Bhattacharya, Mukesh Sahani, CPI state secretary Ram Naresh Pandey, CPM state secretary Lallan Choudhary, and IIP chief IP Gupta, reaffirmed their commitment to contest unitedly against the BJP-JD(U)-led NDA, aiming to “protect the Constitution” and “replace the current government”.

However, questions over unresolved seat-sharing persisted. Bhattacharya said minor overlaps in nominations were not significant, noting that “unity exists in 95% of the seats” and that the remaining disputes would be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of providing jobs to every household without government employment. “Such promises should be viewed cautiously, given the corruption cases like the land-for-jobs and IRCTC tender cases in which Tejashwi has been named,” Prasad said.