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Lalu Yadav giving away RJD tickets while INDIA bloc seat talks with Congress, others still on: Report
These leaders' candidature is being seen as part of the strategy of Tejashwi Yadav to win over a section of Bhumihars, a powerful upper caste.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad isn't waiting for the formal announcement of seat sharing by the INDIA bloc or Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and has given away party tickets to his favoured candidates on seats the RJD has been fighting, reports said on Tuesday.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has already announced its seat-sharing plan, with the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contesting an equal number of seats.
The INDIA bloc, which is led by the RJD in Bihar and has Congress as the next big partner, is still struggling to finalise its seat-sharing formula.
However, according to a report by news agency PTI, a stampede-like situation was witnessed on Monday outside Lalu Yadav’s wife Rabri Devi’s bungalow at 10 Circular Road in Patna when the couple returned from Delhi after a court appearance.
The report added that many leaders had received phone calls from the party for tickets for the upcoming assembly election. They reportedly met the party supremo and emerged with the lantern symbol.
According to PTI, those who got the tickets included former JD(U) leader Sunil Singh (Parbatta), and Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo, a several-term former MLA from Matihani, who had won the seat twice for the party headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar.
The exact number of people who got the tickets was not clear, according to the report.
Several sitting RJD MLAs like Bhai Virendra, Chandrashekhar Yadav (Madhepura) and Israil Mansuri (Kanti) also reportedly got the tickets.
Filing of nominations for the second and final phase of the Bihar polls began on Monday, and only four days were left for candidates of the first leg to submit their papers.
These leaders' candidature is being seen as part of the strategy of the son and heir apparent of the RJD supremo, Tejashwi Yadav, to win over a section of Bhumihars, a powerful upper caste that has traditionally supported the BJP-led NDA.
Congress says talks ongoing, RJD giving 2024 throwback
Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru told news agency ANI that talks were still “ongoing” on seat allocation.
"After finalising the seat allocation, the list will also be released. Our effort is to form a good government for the people of Bihar without any loss to the alliance and to the benefit of Bihar. The talks are ongoing," he said on the issue.
But Lalu Yadav reportedly giving away the tickets before the formal seat-sharing announcement is a throwback to last year's Lok Sabha polls, when the RJD supremo had distributed a number of party tickets, without waiting for a nod from alliance partners, who eventually fell in line.
Besides the Congress, the RJD has among its allies three Left parties and former state minister Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insan Party. A pact is also expected with Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's JMM and RLJP of former Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.
