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Congress seeks early end to Bihar alliance woes
The other smaller constituents of the mahagathbandhan or grand alliance, too, have demanded clarity on the issues of leadership and distribution of seats, a Congress functionary said on condition of anonymity.
Worried over the Janata Dal (United)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine having seized the first-mover advantage ahead of the assembly elections in Bihar, Congress leaders have urged the central leadership to chalk out a poll strategy to oust the ruling coalition from power in the state, according to people aware of the developments.
While both the JD(U) and the BJP have kicked off their preparations for the assembly elections scheduled for October-November this year, the opposition Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are yet to firm up their election plan. Senior BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah recently addressed a virtual rally to launch the party’s Bihar election strategy.
The other smaller constituents of the mahagathbandhan or grand alliance, too, have demanded clarity on the issues of leadership and distribution of seats, a Congress functionary said on condition of anonymity.
The RJD has sought to project Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate of the grand alliance, but Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is against the move and has flagged lack of consultation in the opposition grouping.
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) president Mukesh Sahani have demanded the formation of a coordination committee to sort out the differences in the mahagathbandhan. Kushwaha and Sahni made the demand after meeting twice last week.
Bihar Congress leaders, too, want the party high command to initiate steps to spell out the future course of action vis-à-vis the alliance, letters written by regional leaders and reviewed by HT show.
In their communications to the central leadership, state Congress leaders have expressed concern over the opposition having ceded its space in the midst of the coronavirus disease outbreak despite what they describe as the “failure” of the ruling coalition in containing the pandemic coupled with “massive anti-incumbency” against the government.
They also pointed out to repeated jibes taken at Tejashwi Yadav by the ruling JD(U)-BJP leaders for his absence from the state after the outbreak of Covid-19.
In his series of letters to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader Kishore Kumar Jha urged him to hold a virtual rally and target the JD(U)-BJP combine for their handling of the migrant workers crisis.
He also requested Gandhi to direct the state leaders to step out of the party’s Sadaqat Ashram headquarters in Patna and reach out to the masses across Bihar.
The Congress has identified 60-70 of the total 243 seats where it is in a position to give a tough fight or even register a win against the ruling alliance, a senior leader overseeing party affairs said, asking not to be named.
However, it remains to be seen if the RJD and other constituents are willing to agree to the Congress party’s demand for an increase in the number of seats over the ones it contested in the 2015 assembly elections.
The Congress then contested on 41 seats and won 27. The JD(U), which was then a part of the grand alliance, and the RJD fought 101 seats each. While the RJD won 80 seats, the JD(U) won 71 and the BJP’s tally stood at 53.
JD(U) leader and chief minister Nitish Kumar later exited the grand alliance and once again joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition government in 2017.
