By Dr. Gyan Pathak
On the last day of filing nomination on October 17, 2025, for the first phase of Bihar polls, NDA allies expressed their happiness over their perceived “disunity” among the Mahagathbandhan (INDIA bloc) allies, who were still struggling for finalizing their seat-sharing deal, which is yet to be announced. However, as the things stood, out of 121 seats going to polls in the first phase, only in six of them, Mahagathbandhan allies have fielded their candidates against each other.
It shows, by and large, there is unity for the majority of seats, and the Mahagathbandhan was able to field single candidates against NDA in as many as 115 seats. The last date of withdrawal of candidates is October 20, and Mahagathbandhan leaders are confident that the differences would be settled by that time, and it would ultimately offer united battles against NDA candidates in those constituencies too. The last date of withdrawal for the second phase election is October 23. Mahagathbandhan leaders claim that they have still time to finalise their candidates. For the delay, they blame the new political complexity, and deny any disunity among the Mahagathbandhan allies.
Mahagathbandhan allies are still in talk for finalization of their seat sharing deal. For the delay, the Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is part of the seat-sharing discussions, said that the bloc’s final list would be announced soon. He said, “Coordination matters more than speed.”
Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera has said that the candidates were filing their nominations because the seat distribution was still under way. Therefore, the multiple candidates from INDIA bloc’s allies do not necessarily reflect disunity among the Mahagathbandhan allies. He said that the INDIA bloc is still confident of winning the election.
The delay itself reflects the problems in the seat-sharing process, but Khera has said that the work on the process was going on very well and symbols were being distributed. Those who have to file nominations are also doing so. The process has started, and very soon the entire situation will be clear to everyone.
As for the CPI(ML)L, its general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has outrightly dismissed any infighting within the Mahagathbandhan. He said, “People may feel there is a chaos in the INDIA bloc. But the delay in announcing seats is because more constituents are on board this time. It is definitely not a sign of disintegration.
It would not be out of context to mention here that Mahagathbandhan is led by RJD, while its allies are Congress and the Left Front which include CPI(ML)L, CPI, and CPI(M). Now three other political parties, IIP, VIP, and JMM have joined hands. It has made the parties to renegotiate the seat-sharing on the basis of mutual understanding with a give and take attitude. Naturally, it has delayed the process, but the INDIA bloc leaders are confident of solving it in a way that would ultimately help the alliance to win more seats.
According to the sources, the RJD which is leading the Mahagathbandhan has agreed to give Congress 61s seat. However, the Congress has released its first list of 48 candidates, even without finalization of the seat-sharing deal. It added to the confusion and people believe that there must be still disunity between the RJD and Congress. This confusion has compounded further when some of the Congress candidates have filed nominations on the seats where other allies have also fielded their candidates.
For example, in Bachhwara, the Youth Congress chief Prakash Garib Das has filed his nomination papers, where CPI has fielded Awadhesh Roy. Congress will also be contesting Lalganj seat in Vaishali district against the RJD candidate. Congress candidate Aditya Kumar is contesting from this seat against RJD candidate Shivani Shukla.
CPI has fielded Mohit Paswan from Rajapakar where Congress has fielded sitting MLA Pratibha Das. In Rosera, Congress has fielded former IPS officer B K Ravi, while CPI has fielded Laxman Paswan.
Biharsharif in Nalanda district is another constituency where Congress candidate Umair Khan is contesting against the CPI candidate Shiv Prasad Yadav.
RJD has give the Vaishali seat to a turncoat Ajay Kushwaha who has just joined the RJD. Congress has fielded Sanjeev Singh from this seat.
On Tarapur seat, from where NDA has fielded its Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, RJD has given ticket to Arun Shah. Another Mahagathbandhan alliance partner VIP has fielded Sakaldeo Bind from this seat.
Mahagathbandhan leaders still hope that the issues of multiple candidates in certain constituencies from its partners will ultimately be resolved soon. BJP and NDA allies are happy over such a situation in the opposition INDIA bloc. NDA have also been undergoing seat-sharing trouble, but they have reportedly settled it just on the eve of the final date of filing nominations for the first phase of election. Nevertheless, all the four BJP allies – LJP(RV), JD(U), RLM, and HAM rank and file are not happy with the final seat-sharing deal. (IPA Service)
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