How Will INDIA Bloc Balance Alliance Interest In Bihar Elections ?

In April 2025, a spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) stated emphatically that Tejashwi Yadav would be the chief ministerial face of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. At the same time, the Congress declared that it would go into these polls with greater strength than the last time around. Meanwhile, Independent MP Pappu Yadav has repeatedly attacked Tejashwi Yadav and advocated the idea of the Congress contesting from 100 seats.

This back-and-forth began two months ago when certain major changes were effected in the Bihar Congress Committee: 21 of the 40 district presidents, including state president, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, were removed from their posts. Rajesh Kumar Ram, who hails from the Dalit community and is a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Kutumba constituency in Aurangabad, was made the new state president.

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Political analysts believe that the Congress has aimed to achieve two things through a single action. On the one hand, it has tried to balance the social equations by placing a Dalit leader in-charge of the Bihar Congress and on the other, by removing Singh, it has assuaged the growing anger within the party against him. A Bhumihar politician, Singh is said to be close to Lalu Prasad Yadav and is rumoured to have made the Congress a stooge of the RJD during his tenure.

Through this move, the Congress has also signalled its refusal to play second fiddle to its alliance partners. An incident involving the Bihar Congress in-charge, Krishna Allavaru, points in the same direction. When some media personnel reminded Allavaru about the tradition of incoming Congress state presidents visiting Lalu Yadav for his blessings, and wondered why he had not done so, he deflected the question by saying, 바카라�Our strategy has always been a strong Congress and a strong India. That is all that needs to be said.바카라�

State President Ram said, 바카라�Rahul Gandhi바카라�s nationwide campaign for social justice has deepened people바카라�s trust in the Congress. They can feel its presence. We are a national party with a strong organisational base across the country. Our workers must give up the perception that the Congress is piggybacking on some other party or that it is operating under someone바카라�s wing.바카라�

Amid the tussle between the Congress and the RJD leaders over the chief ministerial candidate, a meeting was held in Mallikarjun Kharge바카라�s room in Delhi on April 15, between Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, Ram and Allavaru and Tejashwi Yadav, Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha and Sanjay Yadav.

It was decided in these talks that the Bihar assembly elections would be fought under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, but that he would not be declared the CM face immediately. The parties resolved to refrain from making any public statements on seat-sharing and the possible CM and Deputy CM candidates. And it was decided that the INDIA Bloc would hold meetings in Patna on April 17 and April 20 to form a coordination committee.

Subsequently, all the INDIA Bloc partners met in Patna on April 17 and April 20, and decided to form a coordination committee to handle matters related to the elections. In the follow-up meet, Tejashwi Yadav was elected the chairman of the 21-member coordination committee, while members were nominated from all the constituent parties. The committee decided that it would be the sole authority on decisions pertaining to the CM and Deputy CM contenders and the wider seat-sharing formula.

But Pappu Yadav continued his opposition against Tejashwi Yadav and propagated the idea of the Congress contesting from 100 seats. At the same time, Mukesh Sahani, chief of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), which is also a member of the INDIA Bloc, has repeatedly sought to project himself as the alliance바카라�s deputy CM candidate.

Although Pappu Yadav is not a Congress member officially, he is seen canvassing for the party. Furthermore, when he makes his statements on matters concerning the alliance, the Congress does not deem it necessary to issue denials. This raises the question whether Pappu Yadav바카라�s statements enjoy the Congress바카라�s silent approval or whether they are a ploy to pressurise the RJD over the sharing of the seats.

Election analyst Soroor Ahmed says, 바카라�Pappu Yadav is an undeniable factor in Seemanchal. This may be why the Congress does not refute his statements head-on. I think it will also consider fielding him from the Seemanchal area. It may also be that the Congress is using him as part of its strategy to pressurise the RJD regarding seat-sharing.바카라�

But Ahmed also says that when Pappu Yadav pushes for more than 100 seats for the Congress, it becomes incumbent on him to clarify from where he will produce that many candidates: the last time around, the party had to field several candidates belonging to the RJD. Another view doing the rounds is that the Congress is shooting high so that it may get same number of seats it got in the last assembly elections.

The party has been trying to regain lost political ground through a range of activities over the past four months, including a visit by Rahul Gandhi, a major reshuffle in the state committee, including the presidential post, Kanhaiya Kumar바카라�s Palayan Roko, Rozgar Do (Stop Migration, Provide Employment) padayatra, and the demand for caste census and reservations for social justice. Therefore, it will throw up a challenge during the seat-sharing talks.

In the aftermath of the last Bihar assembly elections, the blame for the defeat of the Grand Alliance was laid at the doorstep of the Congress. The alliance back then comprised the RJD, the Congress and the Left parties. In the elections for the 243-strong assembly, the RJD contested 144 seats, the Congress 70, and the Left parties 29. The alliance won 37.23 per cent of the votes polled and only 110 seats, coming up 12 seats short of the magic figure.

The victory tally was as follows: the RJD won 75 seats, the Congress 19 and the Left 16. The strike rate, in terms of percentage, was 52.08 per cent by the RJD, 27.14 per cent by the Congress, and 55.17 per cent by the Left. Clearly, the worst performance, by far, came from the Congress.

This abysmal strike rate of the Congress came under heavy criticism. Supporters of the alliance wondered whether allocating as many as 70 seats to the Congress was a grave strategic mistake. The Congress바카라� weak performance is widely considered to be a major reason for the Grand Alliance바카라�s loss of power in the state. If sources are to be believed, the RJD does not want to give more than 50 seats to the Congress.

Meanwhile, the VIP바카라�s Sahani not only wants his party to contest from 60 seats, but also wants the post of deputy CM. Obviously, this too portends a tussle among the INDIA parties over the distribution of seats.

Congress State President Ram says, 바카라�The Congress is the most trusted party in the alliance. My view is that we have to decide whether we want to limit ourselves to procuring seats or prevent the BJP from coming back to power. Different sorts of things are being said. We can only decide by sitting down and talking about them. Right now, we must ensure that there is no rift in the alliance. Our national leadership will decide who gets how much. But for sure, the Congress will go into these elections in a respectable form.바카라�

Looking at the success rate of the Left parties in the last elections, it has been suggested that the alliance reduce the seat share of the Congress and give it to the Left. Previously, the alliance consisted of five parties; now it has six, with the addition of Sahani바카라�s VIP.

If Sahani stays on with the alliance, then how will he be accommodated? The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Bihar Secretary, Kunal, says, 바카라�Coordination committees are being set up in every district and block to handle these issues. As for accommodating [the new party], the RJD and the Congress have to make adjustments, because both these parties contested from a huge number of seats. But our strike rate was the best. We won 12 of the 19 seats we were allotted. That바카라�s why we want more seats to contest this time.바카라�

Vishnu Narayan, a senior journalist who covers Bihar politics, believes that it is natural for a situation of conflict over seat-sharing to prevail, in both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA Bloc. He does not think that this will become a reason for either of the alliances to break.

Narayan says, 바카라�Claims and statements are put out also to maintain one바카라�s own relevance, whether it is done by Pappu Yadav or Mukesh Sahani. Often, it is also done in the context of pressure politics. About Sahani, it바카라�s also being said that he has been in touch with the rival alliance, while being in the INDIA Bloc. So it바카라�s difficult to say anything with certainty right now. Once the relative positions of the parties바카라�which party has a strong claim in which constituency바카라�is known after their internal surveys, a clearer picture of the

seat-sharing will also emerge. However, based on what is apparent, it can be said that the Congress바카라� seat share will decrease.바카라�

(Translated by Kaushika Draavid)