Within weeks of Rahul Gandhi concluding his Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, cracks have begun to appear among the Congress party’s allies over seat-sharing. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, stirred the waters by declaring that he, meaning the RJD, would contest all 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly. While some dismissed it as a crowd-pleasing remark, others saw it as a subtle warning to Congress to scale down its seat demands.

Public airing of such discord is not new. Seat-sharing talks have rarely ended on a cheerful note, owing to the mismatch between demand and availability. In Bihar’s opposition alliance, the clamour for seats has intensified, with each constituent trying to secure as many as possible. The real complication arises from two new entrants. The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), led by Mukesh Sahani, formerly part of the NDA, has now joined the opposition. So has the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) of former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, after being sidelined by the NDA during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Both parties are demanding their share in the form of seats. VIP’s demand for 40 seats is widely seen as excessive. In the NDA, it had contested 11 seats and won just........

© Free Press Journal