Seat deadlock sets up friendly fights in Bihar's Opposition bloc

Patna: A day after the deadline for filing nominations for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, the main opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) remains unable to finalise its seat-sharing arrangement, raising the possibility of friendly contests among partners.

The bloc - comprising RJD, Congress, CPI, CPM, CPI(ML)-L, and VIP - has yet to formally announce the seat distribution, and reports suggest that at least eight constituencies will see alliance partners fielding rival candidates. Leaders, however, said efforts are underway to resolve the issue before the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.

Congress has so far named 48 candidates, while CPI(ML)-L has fielded candidates in 20 seats - one more than the 19 it contested in 2020, when it won 12. "All is well in the Grand Alliance. We have got 20 seats this time, and our candidates have filed nominations on all of them," CPI(ML)-L leader Santosh Sahar told ET.


Despite such assurances, clashes among partners are evident. In Lalganj, RJD has fielded Shivani Shukla, daughter of Munna Shukla, while Congress has nominated Aditya Kumar Raja. In Vaishali, RJD's Ajay Kushwaha is up against Congress's Sanjeev Kumar. Other contests include Tarapur (RJD's Arun Shah vs VIP's Sakaldev Bind), Bachhwara (CPI's Awadhesh Rai vs Congress's Garib Das), and Gaura Bauram (RJD's Afzal Ali vs VIP's Santosh Sahani).

Elections to the 243-member Bihar assembly will be held on November 6 and 11, with counting on November 14.