With stalemate over seat-sharing amongst the Bihar grand alliance partners continuing, the State Congress leadership is believed to have communicated to the high command to take the decision at the earliest keeping in mind the necessity of being in the mahagathbandhan.
The final decision has to be taken by Congress president Rahul Gandhi within a day and that AICC sources said to keep the alliance intact the Congress is ready to accept 10 seats against its persistent demand of 11 Lok Sabha seats of the total of 40 Bihar Lok Sabha seats and thus pave way for the success of the grand alliance to take on the might of NDA.
BPCC president Madan Mohan Jha sought to refute reports of a rift, claiming “we have made no demands. Seat-sharing talks are making good progress.
The elections have just begun. Wait for two-three days and you will come to know our formula as well as other details,” Jha said who reached Delhi to convey the feelings of Bihar to the central leadership.
The “mahagathbandhan” in Bihar formally acknowledges Congress, RJD, Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM, Sharad Yadav’s LJD and Mukesh Sahni’s VIP as its constituents. Attempts are being made by Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav whose wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Congress MP to seek entry into the formation though the same is being opposed by the RJD which had fielded him on its ticket five years ago but expelled him later on disciplinary grounds.
Sharing of seats in the grand alliance has been hampered by squabbles between smaller partners like the RLSP and the HAM with each party demanding a share that was bigger than what the other was to get.
Sources also say that things have reached an impasse on account of the Lalu Prasad’s RJD asking the Congress to be content with eight seats, but the latter is making a “demand” of not less than 11. Four of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar would go to polls in the first phase, notifications for which have been issued on Monday.
The current impasse surfaced following RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav indicating “fissures” as crisis deepened in the Bihar mahagathbandhan. Amid hard bargaining by smaller parties, the major players — RJD and Congress — have locked horns over the seat sharing arrangements.
Bihar political sources said RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who is in jail (currently in hospital), is keeping close watch over the development and determined that the RJD will not contest less than half of the total 40 seats.
RLSP's head Upendra is pressing for not less than four seats while HAM supremo Jitan Ram Manjhi too is not budging from his demand for equal number of seats..
AICC sources said RJD is not ready to give more than eight to nine Lok Sabha seats to Congress which had already finalised its candidates
on 11 seats for the ensuing polls.
In the given scenario, if the Congress too sticks to its position, the RJD will have to sacrifice at least four seats to accommodate others allies of the mahagathbhandhan. And this is something Lalu is not going to accept at any cost, said a senior party leader.
One of the constituent CPI(ML) too has asserted that decisions relating to the state “could not be taken while sitting in New Delhi.” “You cannot take a decision about Bihar by holding parleys in New Delhi.
You have to be here, among the people of the state, to assess the situation on the ground and then take a realistic decision,” CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya
stated.