Racing against time to resolve seat-sharing differences with INDIA bloc allies in Bihar, the Congress on Tuesday cleared names of 18 candidates and formed a sub-committee to finalise names for the remaining seats.
The decisions were made at a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting that lasted more than three hours. The meeting at the Congress office on Akbar Road was chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, with senior leader K C Venugopal in attendance. The last date for filing nomination for the first phase of elections is October 17, Friday.
Sources told The Indian Express that there were at least 10 seats where there were multiple candidates competing for party tickets, and to resolve the issue the Congress formed a sub-committee which will be headed by Rajya Sabha member Ajay Maken. “There are several seats where there are differences with the RJD, and there are some where there are multiple Congress candidates,” said a source present at Tuesday’s meeting.
“The sub-committee will meet tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9 am to hold discussion on these seats,” the source said.
The party did, however, finalise candidates for another 18 seats at Tuesday’s meeting. It had, during an earlier meeting of the CEC, cleared names of candidates on 25 seats, taking the total number to 43 seats.
While the NDA finalised its seat sharing on Sunday, the Opposition INDIA bloc is struggling to reach a consensus. Congress leaders in Bihar are also worried over the delay in candidate selection, which they say might impact election results.
The Congress is adamant on contesting 65 seats, while the RJD is ready to concede 55, it is learnt.
Among the seats where there are issues between the RJD and the Congress are Bachhwara, Narkatiaganj and Kahalgaon.
The Indian Express had reported on Friday that the seat-sharing talks between the two parties were stuck because of five seats — Baisi (Purnea), Bahadurganj (Kishanganj), Raniganj (Araria), Kahalgaon (Bhagalpur), and Saharsa. “Issues on some of the seats have been resolved between the allies, while differences on some seats still persist,” said a source.
