Bihar grand alliance divided over leadership issue

With Assembly elections slated to be held later this year, the grand alliance in Bihar faces a daunting task of resolving the leadership issue.

While the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has been in favour of contesting Bihar polls under the leadership of its leader Tejashwi Yadav, other grand alliance partners have a completely different view on the issue.

Grand alliance partners including Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM, Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP and Mukesh Sahani’s Vikasheel Insan Party have been reluctant in accepting Tejashwi as their leader.

The three partners recently held a closed-door meeting in Patna to discuss the issue.

However, when asked about the meeting HAM spokesperson Danish Rizwan told this newspaper that, “our agenda at the moment is to provide support to our guest workers who are returning from other states but political issues were also discussed during the meeting”.

Manjhi along with others has been urging the RJD to resolve the leadership crisis through a coordination committee.

According to HAM leaders here, “the agenda is to strengthen the grand alliance in Bihar. We want all issues to be resolved by forming a coordination committee”.

On many occasions, earlier opposition leaders in Bihar hinted that Tejashwi Yadav lacks confidence and may not pose a threat to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has been declared as the face of NDA.

Taking a dig at the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in a tweet said that “RJD’s difference with other grand alliance partners seems to have widened ever since they announced a Chief Minister face. Keeping

Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress away from the meeting held between three alliance partners also prove that the representation of a leader (Tejashwi Yadav) who was not present for 50 days during the coronavirus crisis is not acceptable to them”.

In another hard-hitting tweet on Wednesday, Modi also accused the RJD of using the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to expand their political base in Bihar in view of the Assembly elections which is scheduled to be held later this year.

“While the state government is working hard to provide relief to our workers, the RJD is trying to use the opportunity to launch membership drive and expand its political base in Bihar. Instead of distributing food packets among the workers who are returning from other states, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders are giving them membership forms”, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said in a tweet.