THE CONGRESS may endorse RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister face of the Mahagathbandhan as the alliance tries to smoothen the wrinkles and get off the ground. Sources said that talks held Wednesday had helped narrow the differences, and friendly fights might now come down to a handful of seats.
Ahead of the final deadline for withdrawal of nominations on Thursday, the Mahagathbandhan has not yet announced a seat-sharing deal. The alliance is facing at least three friendly fights in the first phase
of polling on November 6, for which withdrawal of nominations has already closed.
There is no clarity yet on a joint campaign though for the polls, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kick off the BJP’s fight with two rallies planned for Friday.
Senior Congress emissary Ashok Gehlot held talks Wednesday with Lalu Prasad and son Tejashwi at the RJD chief’s residence. Also present was Congress Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, who is being blamed by many in the party for the turmoil in the talks.
One major hiccup was the Congress hesitation in endorsing Tejashwi as the CM face, despite the RJD’s campaign revolving around the ‘Tejashwi Sarkar’ theme. Sources said that the Congress may be willing to cede this now.
The Congress also insisted on a fair distribution of seats, in “quality” if not quantity. The deadlock resulted in the Mahagathbandhan parties fielding candidates against each other in multiple constituencies – including the Congress and RJD in at least half-a-dozen constituencies, the CPI and Congress in four seats, and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and RJD in two.
Sources said some of these candidates will withdraw their nominations Thursday, leaving only a handful of ‘friendly fights’. Speaking to reporters in Patna after his meeting with the RJD leadership, Gehlot said: “We had a good discussion. There will be a press conference tomorrow. All confusion will be cleared. The Mahagathbandhan is contesting together. There are 243 seats in Bihar; there can be friendly fights in 5-10 seats.” The press conference would be the alliance’s first joint one since the elections were announced.
Gehlot described his meeting with Lalu and Tejashwi, with Rabri Devi also present, as “very positive”, and said the INDIA bloc in Bihar is “fully united and contesting the elections with strength”. He accused the BJP of sowing confusion over the alliance. “It ran a sponsored campaign to spoil the atmosphere. Such an environment was created as if there were rifts within the Mahagathbandhan itself.”
Gehlot, the Congress observer for Bihar, added: “In 243 seats, due to local leaders and equations, a situation like a friendly fight sometimes arises… It is a very small number. But a campaign was run in the media over it. In reality, there is no problem at all… Bihar wants change, and the people understand that the victory of the INDIA bloc is in the interest of the country and the state.”
As the seat talks dragged on without a resolution, the unrest within the Congress had spilled into the open, with some ticket seekers accusing Allavaru, state president Rajesh Ram and Congress Bihar Legislative Party Leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan of taking money for tickets.
In private, Congress leaders criticised the “unnecessary” posturing over the CM post that had antagonised the RJD, Allavaru’s “corporate” working style, and the high command’s “casualness” after the high of the Vote Adhikar Yatra, for “undoing months of hard work” in a state where the NDA government faced anti-incumbency.
‘Friendly fights’
As the final hours for withdrawal of nominations approach, the five seats where the RJD and Congress may both end up having candidates are: Vaishali, where the RJD has fielded Ajay Kushwaha and the Congress has got Sanjeev Singh; Kahalgaon, where the Congress’s Praveen Singh Kushwaha is facing, among others, the RJD’s Rajnish Bharti; Narkatiaganj, where the Congress’s Shashwat Kedar Pandey may be up against the RJD’s Deepak Yadav; Sultanganj, where the RJD has put up Chandan Sinha and the Congress candidate is Lalan Yadav; and Sikandra (SC), where the Congress’s Vinod Chaudhary could face the RJD’s Uday Narayan Chaudhary.
Additionally, the Congress and CPI may both be in the race from four seats: Bachhwara, Raja Pakar (SC), Karghar and Bihar Sharif. One seat, Beldaur, may see a fight between the Congress and Indian Inclusive Party, while Babubarhi could see a contest between Mukesh Sahani’s VIP and the RJD.