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Congress releases first Bihar list as Grand Alliance looks to seal seat deal
Congress announced 48 candidates for Bihar assembly elections amid ongoing seat-sharing talks with allies, ahead of nomination deadlines.
Muzaffarpur: The Congress released its first list of 48 candidates for the Bihar assembly elections on Thursday night — just hours before the deadline for filing of nominations for the first-phase polling comes to an end — fielding its state party chief Rajesh Ram from Kutumba assembly constituency and state legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan from Kadwa seat.
The announcement came even before a final seat-sharing arrangement within the Opposition grand alliance has been finalised amid hectic parleys among the allies. Though the grand old party has announced 48 candidates in its first list, it remains unclear how many seats it will contest as part of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan. In 2020 polls, the Congress had contested 70 seats and won only 19.
The Congress fielded Jayesh Mangal Singh from Bagaha, Abhishek Ranjan from Chanpatia, Amit Giri from Nautan, Shyam Bihari Prasad from Raxaul, Wasi Ahmed from Bettiah seat. The party also named Shashi Bhushan Rai and Amit Kumar Singh Tunna as its candidates from Govindgan and Riga, respectively.
Mahagathbandhan functionaries, however, indicated that the alliance partners reached a consensus for seats on Thursday evening after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya intervened to settle any last-minute problems between the RJD and the Vikassheel Insan Party-led by Mukesh Sahani.
According to the deal, the VIP is likely to get 15 seats along with a berth in the state’s legislative council, functionaries said.
A senior alliance leader attributed the delay in seat deal to RJD’s reluctance to give more seats to VIP. As the deadlock continued, Sahani called Bhattacharya, who then spoke to Gandhi. The former Congress chief then held a discussion with Sahani — who holds a significant hold in his Mallah (fisherfolk) community.
“Gandhi told Sahani to send a letter to him expressing the VIP’s intent to be a part of the grand alliance that too, without any negotiation for seats. After Sahani sent the letter, Gandhi had a long discussion with RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav and the seat agreement was reached,” a senior alliance leader said, requesting anonymity.
The last-minute deal was reached less than 24 hours before the deadline for nominations for the first phase of the election. The last date for filing nominations for the first phase of polls is October 17, while that for the second phase is October 20.
People aware of the matter said the RJD and Congress are yet to settle the dispute over six to seven seats, including Jale, Benipur, Vaishali, Lalganj while the Bachhwara seat in Begusarai has already brought to fore the ‘ disunity’ within the alliance as Congress and CPI candidates both have filed their nomination from the seat.
State secretary, CPI Ram Naresh Pandey said the CPI has a genuine claim over Bachhwara seat and the party’s nominee has filed nomination from the seat today. Congress’s state youth president Shiv Prakash Garibdas too has files his papers today.
Till 9 pm, the RJD, Congress, CPI-ML(liberation) , CPI and VIP leaders were engaged in talks over phone to sort out the differences over seat allotments. “ Talks are going on . We are having discussions on various seats with VIP, RJD and other parties. A final picture may emerge by late night today or by tomorrow afternoon,” said a senior CPI-ML(liberation) leader, seeking anonymity.
It is learnt, the RJD is not keen on giving up its claim on Jale, Vaishali, Lalganj and few other seats though these seats were contested by Congress in 2020 assembly polls. There are reports the Congress has already green signalled its party nominee from Vaishali seat and is not keen on giving up its claim on Benipur and Benipatti.
So far, the RJD has cleared names of around 60 nominees and given tickets to them to file nominations even as the Congress too has started giving symbols to over two dozen party’ nominees after getting approval from allies. Sources said 14 CPI-ML(liberation) nominees have filed nominations for the first phase of polls till today and three nominees for the second phase of polls. The ML has so far got approval for 18 seats though it is demanding four to five more seats.
In the day, reports said RJD’s MP Sanjay Yadav, who is a close aide of opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, held talks with senior Congress leaders over seat sharing deal and several top Congress leaders also had a telephonic talk with RJD chief Lalu Prasad in the day from New Delhi.
Insiders in the Grand Alliance(GA) said both the RJD and Congress are playing hardball on seat negotiations leading to a stalemate in talks. The RJD has offered around 58 to 60 seats to Congress though the grand old party is keen on getting more than that even as there are reports, the major allies in the opposition bloc are keen to have an amicable settlement for larger unity to fight against the BJP-JD(U) led NDA. Congress state leaders did not give any official comment on seat sharing talks today.
Bhojpuri Actor, Singer Joins RJD: Khesari Lal Yadav, a noted Bhojpuri actor and singer, along with his wife Chanda Devi joined the RJD on Thursday evening in the presence of opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other leaders. There are indications Yadav or his wife may get a ticket from RJD to contest from Chapra assembly seat in the coming polls.
“ Either I contest or my wife contests the polls, it is all the same,” Yadav said when asked whether he would contest the polls from RJD. There are chances, the actor himself would contest the polls.
The noted Bhojpuri actor also asserted he would work for the youths and development of the state under the stewardship of Tejashwi. “ He is a famous actor , singer and a good human being . He is not only known here but across the country,” said Tejashwi, while referring to Khesari Yadav before inducting him in the party fold.
