Today in Politics: In boost for INDIA, Congress, RJD set to seal seat-sharing deal in Bihar; Left on board

The Lalu Prasad-led RJD is going to contest 26 seats while the Congress would field its candidates in 9 seats, sources said.

The seat-sharing talks between the RJD and the Congress had been stuck for some time. After the RJD unilaterally decided on its candidates for four seats going to polls in the first phase on April 19, at least three senior Congress leaders expressed their unhappiness.

The agreement between the Congress and the RJD had hit the roadblock mainly over the Purnea seat. Former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who recently merged his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) with the Congress, has been adamant on contesting from Purnea, while the RJD plans to field former minister and Rupauli MLA Bima Bharati from the seat. Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Congress Rajya Sabha MP.

There was also said to be discontent in the RJD about the Congress’s move to induct Pappu Yadav in its fold. The JAP is said to have some influence in Bihar’s Seemanchal and Kosi regions.

Insiders in both the major INDIA parties had earlier told The Indian Express that the RJD was not willing to give the Congress more than five-six seats. The Congress was, however, demanding more than 10 seats.

As the tussle for seats intensified, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav went to Delhi on Tuesday and held a meeting with Congress leaders, including K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik, AICC in-charge of Bihar Mohan Prakash and state Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh.

Sources in the Congress later said that the RJD has finally agreed to give the party nine seats. The two sides met again on Wednesday to identify the seats.

The Purnea seat that has emerged as a sticking point will be watched out for in the list on Friday.

In the 2019 polls, the RJD contested from 19 constituencies, while the Congress candidates were in the fray from 9 seats. The rest of the seats had then gone to their then allies — the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) of Upendra Kushwaha, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahani, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of Jitan Ram Manjhi.

The BJP-led NDA comprising the BJP, JD(U) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), had then swept the state, winning 39 seats. The Congress won the remaining one seat.

This time, the NDA has on its side the HAM(S) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).

Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Yatra

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) supremo Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has set off on a 21-day state-wide election campaign bus tour from Idupulupaya in the Kadapa district. The journey will end at Ichapuram in the Srikakulam district.

The YSRCP is calling it the “Memanta Siddham (we are ready)” election campaign tour. On Friday, the third day of the tour, CM Jagan will resume his bus journey from Nagalapuram in Kurnool district and proceed through Kodumuru, Gonegandla and Ralladoddi to address a public meeting at Yemmiganuru. Later, he will go to Ratana village in Kurnool district for the night halt.

Andhra Pradesh is heading for simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls on May 13. The state has 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Book on Bharat Jodo Yatra

On Friday, a book of essays on Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, titled “Bharat Jodo Yatra: Reclaiming India’s Soul”, will be released. The book is said to give readers different accounts of Rahul’s Yatra, the nearly 4,000-km nationwide march that the Congress leader undertook from September 2022 to January 2023.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI leader D Raja, former RAW chief A S Dulat, Congress leader Salman Khurshid, social activists Medha Patkar and Nikhil Dey are among the other contributors of the book. It is edited by Pushparaj Deshpande and Ruchira Chaturvedi.

Rahul recently concluded his second mass outreach programme, the 63-day “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”. This time he travelled from Manipur to Mumbai.

—- With inputs from PTI