cracks are appearing within the opposition alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Indian National Congress in Bihar as both regional ambitions and national calculations collide ahead of the assembly polls. The alliance, formed under the aegis of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance pact, was once portrayed as a united front against the ruling National Democratic Alliance, but internal tensions over leadership, ticket distribution and strategy have now surfaced.
The heart of the dispute lies in the uneven leverage between partners. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is seeking to extend his reach beyond the traditional Yadav–Muslim support base, aiming for upper-caste and Dalit votes, a move that the Congress views as encroachment on its own core constituency. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appears reluctant to assume a junior role in the alliance, signalling that the party will not accept being the “B-team” to its regional partner. As seating negotiations galloped towards the elections, these underlying tensions have brought the alliance’s cohesion into question.
Key to the discord is the sign-posting around candidate lists and seat-sharing. The RJD has already announced 143 candidates for the 243-seat assembly, signalling dominance within the alliance. The Congress, on its part, has finalised only about 23 seats for contest, a far cry from its previous tally and reflective of its shrinking negotiating strength. The disparity has generated frustration within the Congress ranks and stoked accusations of marginalisation. As Bihar’s Congress state chief alleged that Tejashwi Yadav is “sabotaging” the alliance by shifting positions and undermining Dalit representation, the fault-lines become harder to conceal.
Beyond tickets and candidacies, the alliance’s broader electoral messaging also shows divergence. The RJD-Congress manifesto titled “Bihar ka Tejashwi-Prann” sets out ambitious guarantees such as one government job per family within 20 days of forming the government, restoration of the old pension scheme, free electricity and a monthly stipend for women under the Mai-Behen Maan Yojana. That document prominently features Tejashwi Yadav’s image, effectively positioning him as the principal face of the coalition. Critics argue that this profile-building comes at the expense of shared ownership by alliance partners.
The setting for the alliance tensions is itself transformative. Bihar’s electoral landscape is undergoing recalibration owing to caste census expectations, deeper youth aspirations and widespread migration. The opposition bloc had projected an anti-incumbency wave against the NDA and its state partner, Nitish Kumar, with joblessness, migration and electoral-roll controversies forming central themes of the campaign. Yet while the broader mood favours change, the RJD-Congress duo now face a more immediate threat of internal drift than external challenge.
Analysts note that the alliance’s asymmetric structure placed the RJD in a stronger negotiating position from the outset. The regional party’s geographic strength and organisational heft gave it latitude to press for dominance, while the Congress, lacking comparable base strength in Bihar, entered the alliance expecting parity but finding itself constrained. That imbalance has grown more acute as the alliance has moved from articulation to contest mode. The fact that “friendly fights” on at least a dozen constituencies are now acknowledged by alliance insiders signals a departure from unified campaigning.
For the Congress, the stakes are significant. A failure to assert itself could reinforce perceptions of the party as a peripheral player in Bihar politics, further eroding its relevance in a state where its performance has already weakened over successive elections. For the RJD, on the other hand, projecting leadership involves risk: the party is making bold claims of rapid transformation—“new Bihar in 20 months” under its stewardship—but must deliver or face reputational costs. Its rivals are already accusing it of revisiting old governance failures.
