Bihar polls: All well in INDIA bloc, friendly contests normal, says Gehlot

Asserting that "all is well" within the INDIA bloc in Bihar, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said "friendly contests" between alliance partners on a few seats in the assembly polls should not be viewed as discord within the coalition.

Talking to reporters after meeting RJD supremo Lalu Prasad amidst a stalemate over seat-sharing, Gehlot said, "I had a good discussion with Lalu ji and Tejashwi Yadav. A press conference will be held tomorrow to update the media about the current situation. All constituents of the INDIA bloc will unitedly contest against the NDA candidates."  "All is well with the INDIA bloc. Whatever is being reported by a section of the media is not correct. A friendly contest between alliance partners on five to seven seats in the assembly polls should not be interpreted otherwise," he said.

Our leader Rahul Gandhi, and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav will soon start the election campaign together, he said.

There are 243 seats in the assemblyfriendly fights happen in other states as well. Mahagathbandhan is firm and united to fight against the BJP and JD(U)," he said.

There are at least eight assembly seats in the state Narkatiaganj, Vaishali, Rajapakar, Rosera, Bachhwara, Kahalgaon, Biharsharif and Sikandara where constituents of the INDIA bloc will fight against each other due to internal discord between the Congress, RJD and Left parties over seat-sharing arrangements.

The Congress is contesting 61 seats, nine fewer than it did five years ago. The RJD has fielded 143 candidates, the CPI nine seats, and the CPI(M) is contesting four seats. The CPI(ML) Liberation, which contested 19 and won 12 seats in the 2020 state polls, has fielded 20 candidates this time.

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