It’s official. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav is the Chief Ministerial face of the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan as Bihar gears up for a high-voltage Assembly election. After weeks of tussle within the Opposition bloc over seat-sharing, Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot today named Tejashwi as its Chief Ministerial face at a joint press conference of Mahagathbandhan allies in Patna.
Gehlot said the Mahagathbandhan had chosen Tejashwi Yadav as its Chief Ministerial face because he is “young” and “committed”. He then threw a dare to the BJP. “I want to ask Amit Shah… our leader is Tejashwi Yadav. Now they should confirm who is their (NDA) Chief Minister face.” Gehlot also announced that Mukesh Sahani, the chief of Vikassheel Insaan Party, is the alliance’s Deputy Chief Minister candidate, but added that more deputies could be announced later.
Addressing the press meet, Tejashwi thanked all alliance partners and said the Mahagathbandhan will work together to rebuild Bihar. Taking a swipe at NDA, he said, “Nitish Kumar is facing injustice. There has been no announcement that Nitish Kumar is the NDA’s Chief Ministerial face. We want to ask Amit Shah, you declared Nitish Kumar as the Chief Ministerial face before every election, why not this time? This is Nitish Kumar’s last election. Amit Shah has made it clear.”
Today’s press conference is Mahagathbandhan’s show of unity after weeks of friction over seat-sharing. The Congress had so far refrained from endorsing Tejashwi Yadav as the alliance’s Chief Ministerial face, using this as a bargaining chip for seats.
Seat-sharing negotiations between the RJD and Congress had hit a roadblock when both parties insisted on contesting certain seats, and the Congress pushed for more seats to contest. This led to a situation in which both parties announced candidates for some seats. Such friendly fights can lead to a division of opposition votes and benefit the BJP and JDU candidates. To tackle the crisis, Gehlot was rushed to Patna. Some seats, however, may still see friendly fights.
In the 2020 Assembly polls, the RJD contested 144 seats and won 75, and Congress fought 70 and won just 19. This time, RJD has announced candidates for 143 seats and Congress has named its picks for 59. Mukesh Sahani’s VIP may contest on 15 and 30 seats may go to CPIML, CPM and CPI. On several seats, two allies have announced candidates, but some of these disputes may settle after today’s show of unity. Today is the last date for withdrawing nominations to the second phase of polling on November 11 and several candidates may withdraw nominations after the alliance partners reach an agreement on some seats.