The seat-sharing talks within the Mahagathbandhan have gained pace ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, with disagreements coming to the fore. As per reports, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav’s residence in Patna is the centre of all activities.
Tejashwi has reportedly finalised his seat-sharing formula, which involves keeping 130 to 135 seats for the RJD while offering 55 to 58 seats to the Congress. He has also set aside 14 to 18 seats for the third ally Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), 30 to 32 seats to the Left parties, three to Hemant Soren's JMM, and two to Pashupati Paras's RLJP. For JMM and RLJP, the seats will go from RJD’s kitty.
While the Congress has already sought 60 seats, the most likely to get upset over the plan is likely to be Mukesh Sahni, who has consistently demanded 60 seats. While Sahni is unlikely to settle for 14-18 seats, sources indicate he might compromise if he is declared the deputy CM candidate ahead of the elections.
This is another deadlock, as even if Tejashwi agrees to the demand, the Congress wouldn’t. The grand old party has been eyeing the post and has even said that there would be two Deputy Chief Ministers—one Dalit and one Muslim.
If his demands aren’t met, Sahni would even go back to NDA. He is already at wit’s end with the way his party has been sidelined, according to reports. The VIP founder is also upset at how the Grand Alliance isn’t willing to give him his preferred seats of Muzaffarpur, Patna Sahib, Sahibganj, and Narkatiaganj. The sitting MLA from Muzaffarpur is Congress's Vijendra Chaudhary, and the Congress is reluctant to part with the seat. As for Sahibganj, the sitting MLA Raju is a turncoat. He won the seat as a VIP candidate but has since joined the BJP.
Sahni, who has a strong hold with the Nishad (Mallah) community, is considered a kingmaker in Bihar, for how he contested in 11 seats in 2020 as part of the NDA. He surprised everyone by winning four, thereby becoming Minister of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries in the Bihar government. |
