New Delhi (16.10.2025): Who is to be blamed for Mahagathbandhan not reaching any agreement on seat sharing in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections. It is most certainly the greed of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) which wants to get lion’s share at the cost of its partners in the state and the Congress is certainly not to be blamed for the deadlock.
Adopting the same strategy as in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when RJD chief Lalu Prasad announced the name of his candidate from Purnea Lok Sabha constituency without taking into confidence the ally Congress while consulting the party was the distant possibility. In the Assembly elections of 2025 too, Lalu Prasad distributed election symbols to RJD candidates when Tejaswi Yadav was away in Delhi to attend the IRCTC case against the family and discuss the seat sharing with the Congress. This was a betrayal for the Congress which looks at things now by its 2024 Lok Sabha performance.
Tejaswi took back all the election symbols distributed by his father but decided to file his nomination from Raghopur constituency with none of the alliance partner leaders joining him. Neither the Congress leaders nor the CPI (ML) nor Vikasheel Insan Party (VIP) turned up for the mega event organized by Tejaswi Yadav. Elder sister of Tejaswi, Misa Bharati was falling short of words after his nomination when she said that there is no doubt about his victory which is true also but her subsequent utterances on alliance lacked confidence and clarity.
If Congress insiders are to be believed the party was not ready to get just less numbers of seats that it contested in 2020 Assembly elections but wanted such seats where it stands fair chances of winning them but the RJD was not only offering the party less seats but also weak ones which Rahul Gandhi refused to accept on the face of Tejaswi. The party asked its leaders to get ready to contest all 243 seats, making even workers happy.
October 17, 2025 is the last day of nomination for the first phase of election on November 6, 2025 still the Congress has shown restraint and has not announced any name while the RJD, CPI (ML) have moved ahead with their plans. But whatever the reasons and arguments may be, this stalemate is harming the opposition chances in Bihar against the NDA. The Congress is very clear in its stand that it is not ready to accept anything less than 65 seats and post of Dy CM if Gathbandhan forms the government. The ball is in RJD’s court and the Congress is patiently waiting as RJD has more stakes in the state.
The RJD also dumped the issue of SIR and Vote Chori in Bihar post Voter Adhikar Yatra with Bihar Adhikar Yatra. The Rahul Gandhi Yatra got a good traction from the people of Bihar but local politics prevailed over National politics. The relation between the Congress and RJD are at the lowest ebb. They may compromise for elections in the state but every passing moment is harming the alliance.