Calls go out, leaders dash down as Congress, RJD in alliance rescue mode

Thursday is the last date for withdrawal of nominations, and the alliance leaders are hopeful they will get candidates to drop out to avoid ‘friendly fights’.

As of Tuesday, the Mahagathbandhan is staring at ‘friendly fights’ in 12 seats. In three of these, which will vote in the first phase on November 6 – Bachhwara, Rajapakar and Bihar Sharif – withdrawals have already closed.

Sources said that of the remaining seats, in Lalganj in Vaishali district, the Congress has already withdrawn its candidate, while an understanding has been reached between it and the RJD to ensure that only one of them is in the race from Pranpur (in Katihar) and another seat each.

While the RJD released its official list of 143 candidates on Monday, the Congress has announced 61 candidates. Bihar has 243 seats in all. The Mahagathbandhan’s other allies include the Vikassheel Insaan Party, Left parties and Indian Inclusive Party.

Just a month ago, the Mahagathbandhan seemed to be cruising along as Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav took out a joint Voter Adhikar Rally, and appeared to have zeroed in on a credible issue in the Election Commission’s controversial Special Intensive Revision of poll rolls.

However, sources said, tensions have been building up since then:

* Tejashwi as CM face

The RJD has been clear that it expects to fight the elections with Tejashwi as the official chief minister face of the Mahagathbandhan. Tejashwi was transparent about this during the Voter Adhikar Rally as well; the fact that Gandhi didn’t exactly endorse the same evidently came as a surprise.

Senior Congress leaders in Bihar argue that the party did not want to commit to this as it could lead to consolidation of non-Yadav votes in Bihar. However, a section of leaders called this stand illogical. “Who is contesting the maximum seats (in the Mahagathbandhan)? The RJD. If we win, it will be RJD MLAs who will decide who becomes the CM. Then, where is the problem?” a senior Congress MP from Bihar said.

The MP said the argument that it was a “principle” with the Congress to not declare a CM face before elections did not hold much water either. “Will the party do the same in Uttar Pradesh? No, it won’t. Because Akhilesh Yadav will be the CM face,” the leader said, adding that this was a source of tension with the RJD that could have been easily avoided.

* Bihar caste survey

Tejashwi frequently lays ownership to the caste survey started in Bihar in 2022, when the RJD was a part of the government led by the JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and he was Deputy CM. Bihar was among the first states to carry out such a count, amid clamour for a caste census by the Opposition.

However, the Congress top leadership, including Gandhi, has not been enthusiastic about acknowledging the survey. Having made caste census the cornerstone of his campaign against the BJP, Gandhi has frequently said that a Mahagathbandhan government would hold such a census, and that it will not be like “a Bihar (caste survey), that was a way to fool people”.

* Ego clashes

Leaders who were part of the seat-sharing negotiations also blamed egos of the respective party leaderships. A leader cited the Bachhwara seat as a prime example. The Congress sought Bachhwara for itself as, in 2020, the state president of the Youth Congress and son of six-time MLA Ramdeo Rai, Shiv Prakash Garib Das, won it as an Independent with 39,878 votes.

However, partner CPI demanded the seat for its candidate Awadhesh Kumar Rai, who lost by just 484 votes in 2020. “The Congress made it about their ego,” said a leader who was part of the Congress screening committee for the Bihar polls.

So now Bachhwara, which votes in the first phase, will have candidates from both the CPI and Congress, giving the NDA an edge.

Other sources said there were also “petty incidents” of ego. One time, Allavaru is learnt to have kept Tejashwi waiting for more than an hour. Tejashwi in turn made Allavaru wait more than two hours for a meeting. “This is how petty it became,” said a leader in Bihar.

* Delhi’s diktats

Apart from lashing out at the Bihar Congress leadership, including accusing it of taking money for tickets, a section says Gandhi should stop parachuting in and out of state politics. “Where is the high command in all this? Why have they let slip a state where we had such a good chance till September, when Gandhi led the yatra in the state? If such a storm is brewing in the Bihar Congress that leaders had to do a press conference and level allegations against the top three leaders in Bihar (Allavaru, Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram and Congress Legislative Party leader Shakeel Ahmed), where is the high command? Why weren’t disgruntled ticket seekers not placated?” a leader said.

The choice of Allavaru, a native Telugu speaker, for deal-making in a state where the party had to deal with someone like Tejashwi and Lalu has also come under question. “We should have had a leader who could sit with Lalu and negotiate a deal. Maybe a former CM like Bhupesh Baghel,” said a Congress leader.

Allavaru was appointed Bihar in-charge only in February this year, with sources saying he was supposed to be given charge of Punjab and Baghel of Bihar, but that Baghel refused the Bihar post and the high command didn’t have a choice but to go with Allavaru.

The Bihar greenhorn has been accused of running the state Congress “like a corporate” and giving too much power to “consultants” appointed by him. One of Allavaru’s men runs the Congress war room in Patna. “Why will an MLA talk to someone who is not a part of the Congress structure? Leaders won’t take instructions from consultants, and the Bihar Congress has been run by consultants for the last few months,” said a ticket seeker in Bihar.

Leaders say Tejashwi too didn’t consider Allavaru to be “important enough” as he himself had a line to Gandhi. “The entire process became about one-upping the other, and the consequences are for all to see,” said a leader.