For the Bihar election 2025, the tussle over seat sharing in the Grand Alliance is fast. Under the pressure of the Left and new colleagues, the RJD-Congress may have to leave 12-14 seats, leading to increasing internal dissatisfaction.
Patna: The countdown of Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 has started. The Election Commission may announce the program in the first week of October. Meanwhile, the tussle over seat sharing within the Grand Alliance has intensified. According to sources, RJD and Congress may have to leave 12 to 14 seats to please their allies.
Pressure on RJD-Congress
In the 2020 assembly elections, RJD contested 144 seats and won 75. The Congress had bet on 70 seats, but was reduced to just 19. This time, the joining of new colleagues like VIP, JMM and LJP (Paras faction) has increased the pressure on RJD and Congress to leave seats.
Increased demand of the leftists
The Left parties involved in the Grand Alliance have also raised the demand for more seats this time. CPI (Male) L contested 19 seats in 2020 and won 12. Now the party claims that their strength and support base have increased, so they should get at least 30-32 seats. The CPI and the CPI (M) also want a better stake than last time.
Entry of new colleagues
The VIP party can get about a dozen seats, while there is talk of leaving two seats for JMM and LJP (Paras). This will directly affect the account of RJD and Congress. The Congress has made it clear that it wants to field its current MLAs again, but in the new equation, many old faces can be cut.
Congress tussle
The Congress camp has started showing disagreement on this issue. Senior MP Tariq Ahmed was recently absent from the screening committee meeting. He questioned the party’s candidate selection process in gestures on social media and said that “honest and grassroots workers should be given priority.” There is confusion among Congress workers that if the seats are reduced then who will get the ticket and who will not.
2020 background
In the last assembly election, the Grand Alliance gave a tough fight to the BJP-JDU alliance. The RJD emerged as the largest party, but remained away from power. This time the opposition hopes that the public will express displeasure over issues like unemployment and law and order on Nitish Kumar and BJP government. But only the equation of seat sharing will decide how strong the opposition will be able to enter the election field.
Inner
Sources reveal that there are frequent meetings of the leaders of the Grand Alliance. Seat-by-seat equations are being assessed. RJD and Congress are still not ready to publicly to accept that they will reduce their seats, but the inner leaders have been indicated that the agreement will have to be made.
Overall, the biggest challenge for the Grand Alliance before Bihar elections 2025 is to keep their grip strong by keeping their colleagues strong. If RJD and Congress leave more seats, dissatisfaction can increase within the organization. But if allies are unhappy, the entire alliance can waver. How this pull is resolved before the election, will decide whether the opposition will be able to present a united face in front of the public.