INDIA bloc scrambles to quell Bihar tensions

Earlier, Tejashwi Yadav too had hinted that the MGB will contest the elections unitedly and all issues would be sorted out by Thursday.

The Opposition’s Grand Alliance on Wednesday attempted to paper over cracks as senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot met Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav, playing down the squabbling over seats that has threatened to mar the coalition’s prospects in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi during a meeting in Patna on Wednesday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

The meeting came a day after nominations for the crucial second phase of assembly polls in Bihar closed, making it clear that the Opposition had fielded more than one candidate in at least 10 seats.

The coalition has till Thursday – the last day for withdrawal of nominations for the second phase, where 122 seats go to the polls on November 11 – to sort out its differences.

“Mahagathbandhan is contesting the elections together. There are some issues on 5-10 seats, including local disputes. The MGB may also see friendly fights on a few seats,” said Gehlot.

Gehlot said that the leaders held a good discussion. “We had a detailed discussion and everything will be clarified tomorrow at a joint press conference,” he said, emphasising that differences over a handful of seats were “nothing unusual” in a large alliance.

Earlier, Tejashwi Yadav too had hinted that the MGB will contest the elections unitedly and all issues would be sorted out by Thursday. “There are no disputes in Mahagathbandhan,” he said, urging allies to withdraw candidates where the RJD has staked claims, citing the party’s stature as the bloc’s biggest force.

The comments came even as Yadav promised that all government contractual workers and around 200,000 “community mobilisers” among “Jeevika Didis” will be made permanent if the INDIA bloc comes to power in the state. Yadav also promised that these ‘community mobilisers’ will be given a monthly salary of ₹30,000 if the opposition alliance forms a government.

The workers associated with the World Bank-aided Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP), locally known as ‘Jeevika’ Didis, form the backbone of the women’s support behind chief minister Nitish Kumar.

“All the contractual workers engaged in the government departments will be made permanent. The NDA government is not bothered about the welfare of ‘Jeevika Didis’ in the state...They are suffering like anything,” Yadav said. In all, such workers number about 14.5 million in the state.

The RJD is contesting on 143 seats, the Congress on 61, VIP on 15, the three Left parties on 33 and Indian Inclusive Party on one seat. This means that for 243 seats, the number of candidates for the alliance is 253.

The RJD and Congress are facing each other in four seats –– Vaishali, Sikandra, Narkatiyaganj and Kahalgaon. The RJD is in contest with the VIP in two seats –– Chainpur and Babubarahi. The CPI and Congress are in contest in Bachhwara, Kargahar, Biharsharief and Rajapakar.

But the prolonged squabbling over seats has triggered chaos within the alliance and pushed it to the brink. On Wednesday, the Election Commission rejected the nomination of RJD candidate Shweta Suman from the Mohania assembly seat, finding that her scheduled caste certificate was issued in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Mohania in Kaimur district is a seat demarcated for Scheduled Castes, and natives of another state cannot contest an election in a reserved seat, officials had said. Previously, the nomination of VIP candidate Shashi Bhushan Singh from the Sugauli seat in Champaran was cancelled during scrutiny due to “technical grounds”. In the NDA, Lok Janshakti Party candidate Seema Singh’s nomination from the Marhaura seat in Saran was also cancelled as her nomination was rejected due to the same reason.

LJP Leader Chirag Paswan said that the Grand Alliance had collapsed. “The way an infighting is going on in the Mahagathbandhan and the way the alliance has completely collapsed, even after that, if they are thinking that they will come to power, I think it is nothing less than ‘Mungeri Lal ke sapne’... Today, after so many days, they addressed the media. Where were they for so long? Today, Ashok Gehlot has come to Bihar after everything is over in the Mahagathbandhan. Where is Rahul Gandhi? Isn’t it the responsibility of senior leaders to sit and sort things out maturely? This shows that the alliance that cannot keep its parties together, how will it keep the 14 crore people of Bihar together?” Paswan asked.