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Ashok Gehlot's ‘friendly fight’ response to INDIA bloc deadlock in Bihar, Chiraj Paswan takes a dig
Ashok Gehlot said media reports of discord within the INDIA bloc are incorrect, announcing that “all is well” with the Mahagatbandhan.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday asserted that “all is well” within the INDIA bloc or Mahagatbandhan in Bihar, saying “friendly contests” between alliance partners on a few seats in the upcoming assembly election should not be viewed as discord within the coalition.
During an interaction with journalists, after meeting Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, amid a deadlock over seat-sharing, Ashok Gehlot said, “I had a good discussion with Lalu ji and Tejashwi Yadav. A press conference will be held tomorrow to update the media about the current situation. All constituents of the INDIA bloc will unitedly contest against the NDA candidates.”
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“All is well with the INDIA bloc. Whatever is being reported by a section of the media is not correct. A friendly contest between alliance partners on five to seven seats in the assembly polls should not be interpreted otherwise,” the former Rajasthan chief minister said.
“Our leader Rahul Gandhi, and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav will soon start the election campaign together,” Gehlot said.
“There are 243 seats in the assembly…friendly fights happen in other states as well. Mahagathbandhan is firm and united to fight against the BJP and JD(U)," he said.
Chirag Paswan's swipe at Mahagathbandhan
Taking a dig at the Mahagathbandhan Union minister Chirag Paswan, whose party the LJP (RV) is contesting 29 seats, said that the NDA would form the state government on November 14.
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"There is so much going on in their alliance (Mahagathbandhan), and where is Rahul Gandhi? Was it not the moral responsibility of Rahul ji and Tejashwi Yadav to sit together and clear bottlenecks in the alliance? This shows a lack of seriousness on the part of the Congress. No matter what they do, the reality is that after November 14, the NDA will form the government in Bihar. The people of Bihar have understood that if the Mahagathbandhan cannot keep together the five parties in an alliance, then they will not be able to keep Bihar united," he said.
Earlier, addressing a gathering, Chirag highlighted the National Democratic Alliance's timely seat-sharing announcement, further asserting that it has sent a very “positive message”.
"The atmosphere is one-sided and we will perform better than our expectations...NDA completed the seat sharing on time, which has sent a very positive message...As the Mahagathbandhan is unable to keep its flock together, we are expected to win more seats. The alliance that cannot take care of its alliance partners, how could they take care of the state?... The public of Bihar is asking these questions to the leaders of Mahagathbandhan...The leaders of NDA will celebrate Diwali again on 14 November..." he stated.
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Meanwhile, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday announced his campaign plans for the assembly elections. Tejashwi is expected to be announced as the CM face of the Mahagathbandhan on Thursday.
"The process of nomination filing has been completed and now the campaigning will begin. We will start our election campaign from 24th October," Yadav told news agency ANI.
The RJD leader dismissed reports of a rift in the Mahagathbandhan alliance, saying all answers would come on Thursday.
There are at least eight assembly seats in the state – Narkatiaganj, Vaishali, Rajapakar, Rosera, Bachhwara, Kahalgaon, Biharsharif and Sikandara - where constituents of the INDIA bloc will fight against each other due to internal discord between the Congress, RJD and Left parties over seat-sharing arrangements.
The Congress is contesting 61 seats, nine fewer than it did five years ago. The RJD has fielded 143 candidates, the CPI nine seats, and the CPI(M) is contesting four seats. The CPI(ML) Liberation, which contested 19 and won 12 seats in the 2020 state polls, has fielded 20 candidates this time.
The 243-member Bihar assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, with results set to be announced on November 14.
