In the election season, the political temperature is on the rise in Bihar, a state which has 40 Lok Sabha seats. On one hand, the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance) resolved the seat-sharing issue, on the other hand, things do not seem to be on track in the grand alliance (Mahagathbandhan). The matter of seat-sharing in the grand alliance in Bihar is stuck amid several rounds of talks to reach amicable formula.
The RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) is not ready to give more seats to Congress, which is seen as the biggest barrier. The Congress is claiming on some seats like - Purnia, Kishanganj, Aurangabad, Karakat, Buxar and Katihar, but Tejashwi Yadav's party already finalised the names of its candidates for these seats.
According to the sources, The RJD is not ready to give more than 7 seats to Congress. Pappu Yadav, who recently joined Congress, even said that he has told both Lalu Yadav and the Congress high command that he will leave the earth but will not leave the Purnia seat. After this there is tension in the alliance. Tejashwi came to Delhi to hold final talks with the Congress high command to resolve the issue. Earlier, Congress wanted to contest elections on 15 out of 40 seats in Bihar, and later the grand old party came down to 9 seats. But, RJD is not ready to give more than 7 seats to Congress. Several rounds of talks took place, but no result was achieved. Congress was also unhappy with the fact that seat-sharing was finalised yet and the RJD was distributing party symbols to its leaders.
Sudhakar Singh eyes ticket from Buxar
The RJD announced the names of its candidates on Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Jamui, Banka, Jehanabad and Buxar. The RJD named Kumar Sarvjeet from Gaya, Shravan Kushwaha from Nawada, Abhay Kushwaha from Aurangabad and Archana Ravidas from Jamui. Similarly, Tejashwi asked Alok Mehta from Ujiarpur and Sudhakar Singh from Buxar to prepare to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Sudhakar Singh is the son of RJD's Bihar president Jagdanand Singh and when Janata Dal-United's Nitish Kumar and RJD were running the government, Sudhakar Singh had openly launched a front against the former, due to which he had to leave the post of minister.
Tariq Anwar, Meira Kumar's hopes dashed
The RJD already cleared that Misa Bharti will contest from Patliputra and Rohini Acharya from Saran. Similarly, among the seats where RJD gave tickets to its candidates, there are many such seats where Congress was also staking claim, like former Aurangabad MP Nikhil Kumar wanted a Congress ticket but RJD named Abhay Kushwaha who had left JDU from Aurangabad. Likewise, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar wanted a Congress ticket for her son from the Karakat seat, but the RJD gave the seat to CPI-ML. Congress general secretary Tariq Anwar was a contender from Katihar seat, but Tejashwi's party fielded its candidate.
Kanhaiya Kumar denied ticket from from Begusarai!
Congress wanted to field its leader Kanhaiya Kumar from the Begusarai seat, but the RJD gave this seat to the CPI. Congress wants seats like Purnia, Katihar and Kishanganj, where there is a significant number of Muslim voters, but the RJD does not want to give these seats to Congress. The grand old party alleged that it is being given weak seats, but the RJD said that Congress does not have strong candidates on these seats. the RJD argued that Congress did not have candidates in the assembly elections, yet it contested more seats and lost. For this reason, the grand alliance could not get the majority and now it is not wise to make this mistake again.
Pappu Yadav factor - another barrier
Pappu Yadav is one of the major factors responsible of a conflict between the RJD and Congress. Yadav merged his party with Congress only last week. Before joining Congress, Yadav had also met Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi. He had called Lalu as his guardian, but Lalu refused to leave the Purnia seat for him, while Pappu is adamant on contesting the elections from Purnia itself. The reality is that whatever the strength of the anti-Modi front in Bihar, Lalu Yadav's RJD is in the strongest position, victory and defeat in the elections depend on the support base of Lalu Yadav.
Meanwhile, Congress does not have any significant influence left in Bihar because the party neither has an organisation nor a strong leadership in the state.
Lalu Yadav is taking every step with utmost care
Lalu Yadav, enraged by Nitish Kumar's backlash, is now taking every step very carefully. He is ready to make adjustments with Congress and Pappu Yadav but based on winability. That is why talks with Congress are stuck and seats are not being finalised.
