Bihar assembly election: Will Nitish Kumar have last laugh as JMM skips polls, RJD and Congress contest against each other in several seats?
Survivor tales: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the budget session of the state assembly in Patna | PTI
The candidates' list of parties in the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls has only delighted the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United)-led National Democratic Alliance. Exposing the rift within the Mahagathbandhan, the INDIA bloc allies will contest against each other in over four seats.
The Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD announced candidates for 143 seats on Monday, exposing a lack of a seat-sharing arrangement between parties in the INDIA bloc. The Congress has reportedly agreed to contest from 61 seats in this election, nine less than the number of constituencies in contested in 2020 assembly polls. However, the allies will contest against each other in more than one seat this election.
Reportedly, Yadav had declined a recent invite from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to settle seat-sharing challenges for the upcoming crucial polls. According to reports, INDIA bloc constituents including Congress, RJD and CPI, will contest against each other in some of the key seats.
Both the Congress and the RJD would end up fighting against each other in Vaishali, Lalganj, Kahalgaon, Rajapakad and Rosera assembly seats. Congress's candidate will also fight against CPI's candidate in Bachwara.
The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which had earlier decided to contest the Bihar polls alone, sprang a surprise by not announcing candidates in any seats. Monday was the last day for filing nominations for the second phase of assembly elections in Bihar.
RJD state unit spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary urged Congress to withdraw its candidates from seats commonly contested. "The RJD is the party which contests only in Bihar and neighbouring states. We don't demand seats in southern or other states from our partners. We are the biggest party, we deserve to contest the maximum number of seats in Bihar," Tiwary told PTI.
The 243-member Bihar assembly will go to polls in two phases, on November 6 and 11, and counting of votes will take place on November 14.
The BJP-JD(U)-led NDA has announced Nitish Kumar as the alliance's chief ministerial face. Both BJP and JD(U) are contesting from 101 seats this election.
India