Bihar polls: Ashok Gehlot steps in to defuse Grand Alliance tensions

Congress leader Ashok Gehlot meets RJD's Lalu Prasad in Patna to resolve Bihar grand alliance turmoil as allies clash over seat-sharing and multiple candidates

With the election campaign of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led “grand alliance” in disarray in Bihar — its partners have fielded candidates against one another in at least eight constituencies — senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot met RJD President Lalu Prasad in Patna on Wednesday to ease tensions among the allies.

 

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which heads the INDIA bloc’s coalition government in neighbouring Jharkhand, has already withdrawn from the alliance in Bihar following the RJD’s refusal to accommodate its request to field candidates.

 

After arriving in Patna, Gehlot said that “a friendly fight in five or ten seats is no big deal”. Following his meeting with Prasad, he added that the confusion over such contests would be resolved by the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers on Thursday. However, five of the constituencies where “grand alliance” partners are pitted against each other will go to the polls in the first phase, for which the withdrawal deadline had already ended on Monday.

 

The Assembly segments where the Opposition alliance partners will contest together are Narkatiaganj, Vaishali, Rajapakar, Rosera, Bachhwara, Kahalgaon, Biharsharif and Sikandara.

 

The Congress is contesting 61 seats, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has fielded candidates in 143 constituencies. The Communist Party of India (CPI) is contesting nine seats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) four, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation — which had the best strike rate in the Mahagathbandhan in 2020, winning 12 of the 19 seats it contested — has put up candidates in 20 Assembly segments this time. The Mukesh Sahni-led Vikassheel Insaan Party is contesting 15 seats.

 

The RJD has urged its allies to withdraw their candidates, asserting that as the lead party of the alliance, it should contest the largest share of seats in Bihar.

 

After meeting RJD’s Prasad, Gehlot said winning Bihar was “extremely important” for the Opposition alliance following its defeat in Maharashtra. When asked whether the Congress would declare RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate, Gehlot replied: “Why do you want me to make such an announcement?”

 

Gehlot said: “You saw the chemistry between Rahul (Gandhi) and Tejashwi during the Voter Adhikar Yatra two months ago, when the two leaders travelled across the state. They will take an appropriate decision at the right time.” He claimed that “the turmoil within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is, in fact, greater than in our camp. But the media does not highlight it because of a bias in favour of the ruling coalition.”

 

The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to the polls in two phases — on November 6 and 11 — with results set to be announced on November 14.

 

In another setback for the “grand alliance”, the Election Commission on Wednesday cancelled the nomination of RJD candidate Shweta Suman from the Mohania Assembly seat after finding that she was a native of Uttar Pradesh. Mohania, in Kaimur district, is reserved for Scheduled Castes, and natives of another state are not eligible to contest elections in such constituencies, officials said. The restriction, however, does not apply to general seats.

 

Suman alleged that her nomination had been cancelled under “pressure” from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s top leadership, claiming she had been residing in Bihar for 20 years. “I will certainly approach the court against the biased conduct of the polling officials,” she said.