The seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the RJD are headed towards resolution, and an announcement is likely on Thursday.
According to the sources, the RJD has agreed to concede nine Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to the Congress, excluding Purnia, which the latter wanted for Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, who merged his Jan Adhikar Party recently with the Congress.
In an exchange, the RJD is likely to concede Katihar to the Congress. Confirming the positive development, Congress State president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, said, “We have finalised a seat-sharing formula, and an announcement will be made soon.” He wasn’t willing to share further details on the nine seats.
Meeting in capital
RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav has been in the capital for the last few days to sort out the differences. On Tuesday night, he attended a meeting at senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik’s official residence after a week of tussle. Mr. Wasnik is the convener of his party’s alliance committee.
Bihar Congress Chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh and AICC in-charge Mohan Prakash were also present.
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The Katihar Lok Sabha seat is another seat where the two INDIA bloc allies are at loggerheads. The RJD wants it for its former Rajya Sabha MP Ashfaq Karim while Congress leader Tariq Anwar is a contender. The latter had won the seat in 2014 but lost in 2019 even though he had garnered around five lakh votes.
Th RJD’s offer of nine seats leaves the Congress with the headache of dealing with five-term MP Pappu Yadav, who was brought on board with the promise that he would be fielded from Purnia. The RJD has already named Bima Bharati, who had switched from the Janata Dal (United), as its nominee for the seat. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Pappu Yadav insisted that he will not abandon Purnia seat. “I will not change my decision. Every mother and every daughter of Purnia see me as their son and brother. I can leave this world but not Purnia,” he said.
Last week, the RJD also announced their nominees on four seats – Gaya (Kumar Sarvajeet), Aurangabad (Abhay Kushwaha), Nawada (Shravan Kushwaha) and Jamui (Archana Ravidas) — on its own.
