Left Parties Start Filing Nominations for Bihar Polls As INDIA Seat Sharing Gets Delayed

Patna: With complications persisting in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) over seat-sharing for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and no final solution yet in sight, candidates of the Left parties have started filing their nominations for the polls.

Those belonging to other parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress are also raring to follow suit if the seat deal gets delayed further. However, such situation could spell doom for the Opposition alliance in the state.

The CPI (M) was the first to jump the gun. Its candidates have filed nomination papers for the Bibhutipur (Samastipur), Manjhi (Saran), Pipra (East Champaran) Assembly constituencies. Its candidate for the Matihani (Begusarai) Assembly seat will also file the nomination papers soon.

“Our comrades have filed the nomination papers for the Vibhutipur, Manjhi and Pipra seats. We had won Bibhutipur and Manjhi in the 2020 elections and have repeated our MLAs Ajay Kumar and Satyendra Yadav, respectively as candidates. Rajmangal Prasad is our candidate from Pipra. He was the runner-up last time and had fetched over 80,000 votes,” CPI(M) Bihar secretary Lalan Choudhary told ETV Bharat.

Choudhary added that the party had contested the Matihani seat in 2020 and had secured just 765 votes less than the winner. Asked about the delay in seat-sharing in INDIA and the need to file the nominations without its announcement, Choudhary said, “We have not gone overboard. We have filed nominations only for the constituencies we had contested in 2010. We are seeking one more seat for ourselves.”

Talking about the alliance, the CPI (M) state secretary added, “The alliance is rock solid. All its constituents know that it would be difficult to win separately against the NDA and are going to stay united. They also know that the seats are limited, yet are haggling for more.”

Incidentally, nominations for the two-phase Bihar Assembly election is on. The deadline for filing nominations is October 17 for the first phase and October 20 for the second.

Meanwhile, the CPI (ML) is also pushing ahead with nominations. It awarded the election symbol to its Ghosi (Jehanabad) MLA Rambali Singh on Monday, giving him the go ahead to file the nomination papers. Its candidates for several assembly seats in Siwan and Arwal districts will file their nomination papers on Tuesday, followed by other seats later this week.

The CPI (ML) leadership has already circulated the dates and schedules for filing the nomination papers for the seats it is going to contest among the candidates. The CPI is yet to file the nomination papers and is waiting for the seat deal to be announced by the INDIA.

Delay in INDIA seat-sharing

Apart from the wrangling among the alliance constituents over their demands for Assembly seats, a Delhi court summoning Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, and younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to appear in person on Monday for the framing of charges in the alleged IRCTC scam case, has also been a reason behind the delay.

Lalu and Tejashwi are also expected to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Delhi after their court visit to discuss the hold-up in the seat-sharing talks.

The Grand Old Party’s top brass from Bihar is also in Delhi, confabulating with their high command about the hindrances in the seat deal. Tejashwi was nominated the chairman of the coordination committee on the distribution of Assembly constituencies among the allies.

“Our party has given a formula of 55 seats for the Congress, 19 seats to CPIML, six to CPI and four to CPM. We ourselves intend to contest on around 140 seats. Other parties like the Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and India Inclusive Party (IIP) would be accommodated in the remaining 21 seats. The number may vary a little because the negotiations are still going on,” a senior RJD leader told ETV Bharat.

The Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) has announced leaving INDIA after it was not given much weight by the bigger partners in the alliance. However, efforts are now being made to retain it.

Dissatisfied with the formula, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Rajesh Kumar and All India Congress Committee (AICC) Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru rushed to Delhi to consult their senior leaders, including Rahul.

“We talked about all issues pertaining to INDIA, especially in Bihar. We put forth our stand before Rahul Gandhi ji. He gave us the necessary and clear directions on every matter. The atmosphere is positive. We are now preparing for the seat-sharing announcement. It will be done jointly with other allies,” Rajesh said.

The BPCC president added that there was a possibility of Tejashwi meeting Rahul over the seat-sharing later on Monday.

A Congress leader confided that the party was ready to file nominations on 76 seats and could go for more if seat-sharing problems persisted. The party had contested 70 seats and won 19 in the last Assembly elections. Meanwhile, CPIML Bihar secretary Kunal (goes by one name) said that the RJD was sparing only 19 seats for it as part of the seat-sharing, which was unacceptable.

“Of the 19 seats being given to us, 18 are the same we contested in 2020. We are being given another seat in place of the Aurai (Muzaffarpur) seat. We are seeking five to six more seats including Barachatti, Rajgir, Biharsharif, Gaighat, and Hayaghat. The seat-sharing should be accommodative and respectful,” Kunal told ETV Bharat.

Speaking further, the CPIML Bihar secretary added that his party was not making unreasonable demands like those who were demanding 60 and 70 seats. CPI Bihar secretary Ram Naresh Pandey said that no seat-sharing has been finalised so far and his party was waiting for Lalu and Tejashwi to return from Delhi.

“We are waiting for Lalu and Tejashwi to return to Patna. There has been no decision on our demand for 24 Assembly seats. We are a pan-Bihar party and we are seeking a respectful agreement,” Pandey told ETV Bharat.

Appealing to RJD and Congress to show some spirit of sacrifice, Pandey pointed out that the delay in seat-sharing despite the beginning of the nominations for the second and final phase of the election has led to “dejection among the workers and supporters of the INDIA bloc.”

The CPI Bihar secretary added that a broad spectrum alliance involving the Left and secular parties was a must to dislodge the BJP – RSS – NDA in Bihar and later at the Centre.

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