RJD, Cong finalise seat-sharing deal, Manjhi’s HAM not happy

PATNA: Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is expected to contest 152 seats and the Congress 91 seats when elections to the 243-member assembly take place, according to the seat-sharing formula worked out by the so-called Grand Alliance (GA), leaders of the two parties said.

The RJD, from its quota, would allot some to smaller parties in the alliance, the Vikashsheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahni and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-leninist) Liberation, a senior leader of the alliance said. The Congress would have to accommodate the rest of the allies such as the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Communist Party of India (CPI).

“Seat arrangement talks are in final stages and a formal announcement would be made in August last week when we will get a fair idea whether elections in Bihar would be held or not. There is no point in announcing a seat deal so early,” the senior alliance leader cited above said, referring to uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the 2015 assembly elections, when the Janata Dal (United) was part of the alliance, the JD (U) contested 110 seats, the same as RJD. The Congress contested about 40 seats. RLSP and HAM were part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which lost the polls. In the alliance, the RJD emerged as the largest party with 80 seats, JD (U) got 71 and the Congress 27, enabling the coalition to come to power.

As JD (U)’s Nitish Kumar was the face of the alliance, he became chief minister; on July 26, 2017, Kumar left the alliance to form a government with the BJP.

In the new format, the RJD is expected to leave 30 from its quota for VIP. The RJD is also keen that CPI-ML Liberation should be a part of the alliance. “We will submit our list of seats to RJD by next week. We are keen on an alliance...but it should be on respectable terms,” said Kunal,state secretary of the CPI-ML Liberation, who uses only his first name.

The Congress is expected to contest 42 seats and offer the remaining 49 to RLSP, HAM and CPI, party leaders said.

State president of the RJD Jagdanand Singh refused to comment on the seat-sharing formula, insisting that the RJD, being the biggest partner in the opposition alliance, was preparing to contest all 243 seats.

Bihar Congress spokesperson Harku Jha said the seat-sharing talks were “progressing positively”. RLSP’S senior leader Rajesh Yadav said the seat-sharing arrangements would be formalized soon.

Among the alliance partners, only HAM appears to be unhappy. HAM national spokesperson Danish Rizwan said, “The RJD’S arrogant attitude towards smaller allies will prove costly for the alliance.” HAM has been threatening to leave the alliance since June and join the NDA.

BJP state general secretary Devesh Kumar said, “The Grand Alliance is a grand opportunistic alliance devoid of any ideology and model of governance. The seat sharing in the GA is on theoretical terms. It will be seen whether the alliance sticks {together} or not.”

JD(U) spokesperson and state minister Neeraj Kumar said the seat-sharing talks were being led by second-rung leaders in the alliance in the absence of Prasad, who is in jail on graft charges.