Opposition grand alliance in Bihar split over sharing 40 Lok Sabha seats

On January 14, the office of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Patna was buzzing with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) supporters on the occasion of Makar Sankaranti. LJP Supremo and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan was playing a perfect host for the “dahi-chura” feast to Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi and other senior NDA leaders.
 
On the other hand, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s residence wore a deserted look. The party, along with its alliance partners, is still trying to chalk out a seat-sharing formula, whereas the NDA has already sealed the deal. The clamour for seats has left the Mahagathbandhan in a quandary.
 
All the partners in the grand alliance, which comprises five parties, are vying for a piece of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats. While the alliance partners claim they are ready to compromise on the seat-sharing deal to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election, in reality each wants more seats for itself.
 

Unlike the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh, the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is not ready to dump the Congress. “The Congress has been with us from very early,” Prasad’s heir-apparent and RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav said earlier this week in Lucknow.
 
“The party has pockets of support scattered around the state, which is going to play a crucial role in the upcoming polls…. All of us in the Maha-gathbandhan must be ready to make compromises,” said an RJD leader.
 
“Too many” allies
 
The efforts to formalise an amicable seat-sharing formula have been continuously bogged down by the number of parties in the alliance. Besides the RJD and the Congress, it comprises former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), ex-CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP).

 
Plus, the RJD wants to keep the BSP and Sharad Yadav in good humour. The Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) also want to join in.
 
Each alliance partner is bargaining hard for the seats. While the Congress is asking for at least a dozen seats, the RLSP is seeking six, and the HAM and the VIP want four each.  “There is a problem of plenty. It’s going to be a tough balancing act,” said an analyst.
 
Delayed solutions
 
The partners, however, claim all is well in the grand alliance and the seat-sharing formula will be announced by the end this month or early February. “We were hoping for Laluji’s bail and he would take a final call, but that didn’t happen. Now, we are discussing it among ourselves and things would clear up by the end of this month,” RJD leader and former MP Shivanand Tiwary told Business Standard.
 
The Congress is currently busy with its President Rahul Gandhi’s proposed rally in February. “We had a round of talks earlier this month. We will sit again...  Given the induction of new partners, we have to make compromises,” said Congress lawmaker Prem Chandra Mishra.

 
According to party insiders, the allies have agreed to a broad idea for the seat-sharing. The sources said the RJD would contest 20-22 seats, while the Congress may get eight-10 seats. The RLSP may contest three-four seats and the HAM and the VIP may get two each. The RJD wants to leave Gopalganj for the BSP and Saharsa for Sharad Yadav.
 
“The problem, however, lies with the constituencies. We want to announce the formula along with the names of the constituencies for the parties concerned. However, in several cases, there is more than one contender for a constituency,” said an RJD leader.

 
Sahani from the VIP, Kirti Azad from the Congress and Ali Asarf Fatmi from the RJD, all want to contest from Darbhanga. For Ujiyaarpur, Kushwaha and the RJD’s Alok Mehta have staked their claims. “The Mahagathbandhan needs to speed things up. The NDA has already taken the lead in the seat-sharing and now busy with setting the agenda,” said one analyst.