Congress to seek larger seat share in Bihar, to negotiate with RJD
In the 2015 assembly elections, the Congress was a part of the grand alliance also comprising the JD(U) and the RJD. It won 27 of the 41 seats it contested.
The Congress may be content with playing second fiddle to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, but is likely to seek its fair share of seats in the assembly elections due to take place in the state later this year.
A Congress functionary familiar with the development said the party had started preparations for the Bihar elections, due in October-November.
The party has identified 55 of the total 243 seats where it is in position to pose a tough challenge or even win against candidates of the ruling Janata Dal (United)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.
“We will negotiate with RJD and other potential alliance partners on these 55 seats,” the functionary cited above said on condition of anonymity.
In the 2015 assembly elections, the Congress was a part of the grand alliance also comprising the JD(U) and the RJD. It won 27 of the 41 seats it contested. The JD(U) and the RJD contested 101 seats each. The RJD won 80 seats and the JD(U), whose leader Nitish Kumar parted ways with the Grand Alliance and joined forces with the BJP in 2017, won 71.
The Congress has identified these 55 seats based on the performance of its candidates in the 2015 and 2010 assembly elections.
“Let’s see how much we finally get,” the functionary quoted above said, adding that the alliance partners will start preliminary seat-sharing negotiations next month.
The alliance will also have to take a call on its chief ministerial face against the backdrop of a significant change in electoral politics; voters these days want to know who will be their prime minister or chief minister, as evident from the results of last year’s general elections and this month’s Delhi assembly polls.
In the 2015 elections, the Congress had insisted on naming Nitish Kumar as the face of the grand alliance.
The Congress is willing to accept RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate, but the three other alliance partners -- Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) of Upendra Kushwaha, former chief minister Jitin Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahni – have pitched for former JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav.
Senior Congress leader from Bihar Kishore Kumar Jha said the grand alliance should name its chief ministerial candidate after the elections on the basis of the highest number of seats won by any constituent.
“If we declare Tejashwi as our CM face, the upper castes will once again vote for the JD(U)-BJP despite being unhappy with the ruling alliance. On the other hand, Sharad Yadav has no mass appeal or support base in Bihar. So the strategy should be formulated accordingly,” Jha added.
He also insisted that the Congress demand an equal number of seats from the RJD. “We should not agree on anything less than 100 seats and have to sternly put forth our demands. We have nothing to lose if we pull out of the alliance and contest on our own strength,” the Congress leader said.
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