Rising tensions ahead of Bihar assembly polls
The Bihar assembly elections are drawing closer, but the Mahagathbandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has yet to unveil a formal seat-sharing agreement. With nomination deadlines looming for the first phase, the political choreography is accelerating, and a familiar pattern from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is resurfacing: Lalu Prasad Yadav has begun distributing party tickets to favored candidates before a formal, multi-party deal is in place.
Lalu’s surprise ticket distribution
In Patna, a large crowd gathered outside Lalu Prasad Yadav’s residence after he returned from Delhi. According to reports from the news agency PTI, aspirants who had reportedly received phone calls from the RJD showed up to collect party symbols, often flashing smiles as they held the party emblem. Among those lucky enough to receive tickets were Sunil Singh from Parbatta, who defected from Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) last week, and Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo, a multiple-time former MLA from Matihani who had won the seat twice for the party of the chief minister.
Observors say these moves appear designed to consolidate support among influential local groups, including segments within the powerful Bhumihar community, which has traditionally leaned toward the BJP-led NDA. However, within hours the party symbol reportedly found its way back into the hands of the intended recipients—an unusual reversal that has left analysts wondering about the message the RJD is sending ahead of formal negotiations.
The pattern from 2024 lingers
This is not the first time Lalu has distributed tickets ahead of a formal seat-sharing agreement. In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, RJD leaders received nominations before Congress, the Left, and other alliance partners had finalized a roadmap. The episode underscored a risk: unilateral moves can stir frictions within a diverse alliance, potentially complicating post-poll governance if the ballot results lead to a hung assembly or a delicate majority.
Tejashwi Yadav’s balancing act
Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD heir apparent, has been actively engaging alliance partners in recent days. He reportedly met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi to discuss seat-sharing and a joint manifesto for Bihar. The meeting, attended by Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, signals the Congress’s interest in securing seats without derailing the broader Mahagathbandhan strategy.
While the Congress is expected to receive a smaller share of seats than in the past, the exact distribution remains to be formalized. Bihar’s political arithmetic is intricate: the RJD dominated the last assembly by winning 75 of 243 seats while contesting 144; the BJP-led side has been coy about its own seat distribution, with senior leaders outlining a multi-party plan that includes regional outfits such as Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vikas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha in various combinations.
What happens next? The road to a joint manifesto
Party workers and voters await a concrete seat-sharing agreement and a unified electoral platform. The Mahagathbandhan is widely expected to finalize its plan in the coming days and unveil a joint manifesto to align the diverse coalition’s promises with Bihar’s developmental priorities. The formal process will likely include a balance between regional strongholds and community-based voting blocs, seeking to maximize the alliance’s reach across caste, class, and geographic lines.
Implications for voters
For the electorate, the unfolding seat-sharing negotiations will determine how robustly the alliance can counter the BJP-led opposition in Bihar. As candidates begin to officially surface, voters will be watching how the alliance reconciles local loyalties with national-level strategies, and whether the coalition can present a coherent, credible alternative to the current government.
Conclusion
With nomination deadlines approaching, the Bihar Mahagathbandhan faces the dual challenge of finalizing seat-sharing and presenting a unified civic platform. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s early ticket allocations, though controversial, reflect a broader effort to anchor the RJD’s power base in key constituencies as Tejashwi Yadav and allied leaders push for a durable compromise that could shape the state’s political trajectory in the months ahead.
