Now the Grand Alliance has also stood firm in Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections. This time RJD has announced to contest elections from 26 seats with its changed allies, whereas in the last Lok Sabha elections it had contested from only 19 seats. RJD has strategically given some seats to its allies and has won some seats for itself. As far as its main ally Congress is concerned, after some exchange of seats, it has got nine seats like last time. According to arithmetic, he has neither gained much nor suffered any loss.
RJD took strategic lead, also got two important seats of Seemanchal and Kosi.
In a way, RJD has gained a strategic lead in seat allocation. For example, two important seats of Seemanchal and Kosi, Purnia and Supaul have been won from Congress. In return, RJD has given its Maharajganj and Bhagalpur seats to Congress. RJD already has two seats in this region, Araria and Madhepura. RJD has won Munger seat from Congress. RJD has left Begusarai for its ally CPI. In 2019, RJD was also in the election fray from here.
This is how the seats of old allies were distributed.
RJD has fielded its candidate this time from Gaya and Aurangabad on behalf of its old ally Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular). As far as CPI(ML) is concerned, it has accepted the Nalanda seat reluctantly. Hindustani Awam Morcha had earlier contested on this seat. RJD will contest elections this time from East Champaran, Jamui and Ujiarpur, while West Champaran seat has gone to Congress. In the last elections, these seats were held by its old allies. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Khagaria seat of RJD’s ally Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) has gone to CPM this time, Muzaffarpur seat to Congress and Madhubani seat to RJD.
RJD will contest on four out of six reserved seats
This time in the Lok Sabha elections, RJD will contest from four out of six reserved seats in the state, Gaya, Jamui, Gopalganj and Hajipur, while Congress will field its candidates from Samastipur and Sasaram seats.
Congress got the number of seats, not the seats of choice.
In order to satisfy the Congress in the Grand Alliance, the number of seats on which the party was insisting was given. RJD satisfied Congress by giving it nine seats. Seats have also been distributed according to convenience. Here, there is discussion among Congress leaders that the party did not get all the seats which were demanded by their leaders. Congress had also taken feedback from the districts regarding the seats and had also instructed its leaders to make preparations on the possible seats. Now the candidates who have got the seats are disappointed. Party experts say that Congress was demanding seats like Aurangabad, Begusarai, Valmikinagar, Supaul, Purnia, Nawada, Buxar and Madhubani for itself. Irrespective of Congress’s demand, RJD had given symbols to its candidates on all such seats and sent them for election preparation even before the seat distribution.
Congress leaders did not know this till the end.
Here, Congress leaders did not even know which seat would go to them till Friday before the official announcement. Of the nine Lok Sabha seats that Congress has received, it already had six seats. These seats are Kishanganj, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Patna Sahib and Sasaram. Former Lok Sabha speaker and party leader Meira Kumar has announced not to contest elections from Sasaram.
Kanhaiya Kumar’s card also cut.
Here, Aurangabad seat was not given to Nikhil Kumar even after asking for it. While Kanhaiya Kumar’s card was canceled from Begusarai seat, the opportunity of Pappu Yadav from Purnia seat was ended. Till now, no Congress candidate has failed to win the Patna Sahib seat in the last three Lok Sabha elections. In the first phase, Congress did not get even a single seat, whereas in the second phase, Congress has got Kishanganj, Katihar and Bhagalpur among the five seats.