An agreement appears to be emerging between RJD and Congress regarding seat-sharing in the Grand Alliance. The seat formula has been largely finalized, and a joint announcement is expected by late Tuesday evening. Congress had demanded more seats.
Patna. The long-standing tug-of-war over seat-sharing within Bihar's Grand Alliance appears to be nearing an end. The two main constituent parties of the Grand Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress (Congress), have been working towards reaching an agreement over time. Based on the consensus of all constituent parties, the Grand Alliance has largely finalized its seat-sharing formula. It is expected that the alliance will jointly announce the seats by late Tuesday evening.
Tejashwi Yadav's Meeting with Congress Leaders
After a hearing at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Monday, Tejashwi Yadav went to meet Congress leaders. His first meeting was with Congress National General Secretary K.C. Venugopal. The two leaders conversed for about 35 minutes. Discussions during this meeting revolved around the seat formula.
According to sources, Tejashwi Yadav presented an initial seat calculation to Venugopal, proposing 55 seats for Congress. However, Venugopal rejected this, stating that Congress's public support has grown recently in Bihar. Therefore, Congress should receive at least 65 seats.
Equations Between RJD and Congress
Tejashwi Yadav did not fully accept Congress's demand but assured them that Congress could be given a maximum of 60 seats. Subsequently, late in the evening, he also met with Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge. An agreement on the seat-sharing formula was largely reached between the two leaders.
Preliminary Seat Allocation
According to sources, RJD will contest the highest number of seats, 135, while Congress is prepared to contest on 60 seats. Other constituent parties will be allocated seats based on their strength and vote base.
CPI-ML (Liberation) will contest on 19 seats, VIP on 15, CPIM on 6, and CPI on four seats. Additionally, RJD will be able to accommodate Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and I.P. Gupta's party within the remaining four seats and some seats from its own quota.
