Bihar: Gehlot Meets Lalu as Mahagathbandhan Downplays ‘Friendly Fights’ in Absence of Final Seat Deal
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: With about a fortnight to go for the Bihar assembly elections, and no seat sharing arrangements being sealed by the opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot met Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna on Wednesday (October 22) in a bid to diffuse tensions.
Following the meeting, Gehlot in a statement on X said that the INDIA bloc is “united” and a joint press conference will be held on Thursday, October 23.
“The INDIA alliance in Bihar is fully united and is contesting the elections with strength. Tomorrow, the full situation will be clarified in the Mahagathbandhan's press conference,” he said.
While Gehlot blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for running a “sponsored campaign with the objective of creating divisions in the Mahagathbandhan and spoiling the atmosphere.”
He also said that local equations had resulted in friendly fights on 5-7 seats.
“In 243 seats, due to local leaders and equations, a situation like a friendly fight sometimes arises on 5-7 seats. This is a very small number, but a campaign was run against the Mahagathbandhan in the media over it, whereas in reality, there is no problem at all,” he said.
Gehlot was in Patna along with the Congress’ Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru. The duo met Lalu, Bihar leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav, as well as former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi.
Although Gehlot said that “friendly fights” are not a concern, the constituents of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar have already issued separate lists without formally announcing any seat sharing deal. The RJD has released its list of 143 candidates, while the Congress has declared names for 61 seats. The Left parties including the CPI(ML), CPI(M), and CPI have announced 30 candidates while Mukesh Sahni’s VIP has announced 15 candidates.
The Congress and the RJD are facing each other in four seats, including, Narkatiaganj, Vaishali, Sultanganj and Kahalgaon.
In addition, the Congress is facing the CPI in another four seats including Bacchwara, Raja Pakar, Biharsharif and Kargahar.
Of these, Vaishali, Raja Pakar, Bachhwara and Biharsharif will go to the polls in the first phase on November 6 and the date for withdrawal of nominations was on October 20 and has passed.
Meanwhile, the JMM, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, which had announced 6 candidates, has withdrawn from the elections in Bihar on October 20 and blamed a “political conspiracy”, saying it will also review its relationship in the Jharkhand government where the Congress and the RJD are constituent members.
"The JMM has supported the RJD and Congress in 2015 and 2020 elections. In the 2024 elections despite the RJD winning only 4 seats, it was given a ministerial berth in Jharkhand. In contrast we have been betrayed in the 2025 elections,” said Jharkhand minister Sudivya Kumar.
Kumar said that he had met the top leadership of the RJD in Patna on October 7 and there was an understanding that the JMM will be part of the INDIA alliance, but things changed in 14 days due to a political conspiracy.
"The people of Bihar are seeing how the JMM was made a victim of political conspiracy and they will give their answer,” he said.
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