Hours after the Election Commission’s announcement of dates for the Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress’s Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil said all like-minded parties should stay together.
His comments come in the backdrop Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha refusing to be part of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) if RJD president Tejashvi Yadav remains the face of the alliance.
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Addressing reporters, Mr. Gohil said that it was only natural that each political party would want its leader to be the face of the alliance. So if the RJD wanted its leader to be the face of the alliance, there was nothing wrong in it, he said. “But as far as the alliance is concerned, we have been talking to all the allies, the talks have reached a certain stage but there are still some gaps. I cannot reveal anything about them. We will stand by whatever view all the allies collectively take,” Mr. Gohil said.
Kushwaha factor
He said he was confident that Mr. Kushwaha would remain in the Opposition alliance. “I have been talking to Mr. Kushwaha. He was a Minister at the Centre when he left the NDA alliance after having seen the alliance up close. He left the NDA on ideological issues. I do not think there will be any problem ahead on that front,” Mr. Gohil added.
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According to the sources, the Congress is keen that Left parties should also be part of the alliance. But so far the seat arrangement has not been worked out. The RJD, sources said, was keen only to have an alliance with the CPI (ML), which currently has three legislators in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. It has conveyed to the Congress that the CPI and the CPI (M) should be accommodated out of the Congress’s own quota. The RJD is also not keen on keeping Mr. Kushwaha and Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasheel Insaan Party on board. RJD functionaries have told the Congress that both Mr. Sahni and Mr. Kushwaha may shift their loyalties in the post-poll scenario.
Dismissing reports about the internal tussle in the mahagathbandhan, Mr. Gohil said: “Our effort is to ensure that like-minded parties fight together, because the voters are looking for a change and we have the responsibility of providing them with an alternative. And in a politically vibrant State, it is only natural that there will be a tug of war on the seat distribution.”
