By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Political campaigns in all 243 seats have begun in right earnest after the end of the withdrawal of nominations on October 23, 2025 for the 122 constituencies going to poll in the second phase. RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav has entered the centre stage with INDIA bloc announcing him to be Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face. NDA has strategically stepped back from announcing its CM face, since BJP has put the JD(U) leader and the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on tenterhook.
Electorate in Bihar has noted this difference between the Mahagathbanhan and NDA as well as the other infighting within both the ruling and opposition alliances. Though NDA has resolved its seat-sharing problem by October 16, it could not resolve the issue of their CM face, which is indicative of the fact that all is not well within the NDA. CM Nitish Kumar and the JD(U) rank and file have been asserting that he will be again the chief minister of Bihar if NDA retains its power, but BJP leader and Union Minister of Home, who is said to be Chanakya of the BJP, has said that the new MLAs after the election would choose their chief minister. As for Mahagathbandhan, they were able to resolve the issues of CM face, but its allies are still facing a prospect of fighting with each other on as many as 14 constituencies.
RJD has now extended its support to independent candidate Ravi Paswan from Mohania after nomination of its candidate Shweta Suman was rejected. Nomination of VIP candidate Shashi Bhushan Singh from Sugauli was also rejected, but Mahagathbandhan is yet decide on supporting any candidate. NDA is also yet to announce their support to any other candidate on Marhaura seat where nomination of LJP(RV) candidate Seema Singhwas rejected.
INDIA bloc has declared not only the Leader of Opposition and RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav as their CM face, but it has also named VIP chief Mukesh Sahni a Deputy Chief Ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan. Announcing this, Ashok Gehlot, the senior observer of All India Congress Committee (AICC) for Bihar Assembly Polls, said, “One more Deputy CM will be announced later.”
It should be noted that RJD and the Congress had some differences on the number of seats to be contested by both the parties, and on some individual seats on which both the parties wanted their candidates. Nevertheless, on number of seats to be contested was amicably resolved. RJD is now contesting on 142 seats while the Congress is contesting on 62 seats as per the final seat-sharing arrangement. However, some differences remained. On as many as five seats Congress and RJD are contesting with each other. Congress has differences on three seats with the CPI and they are contesting with each other on those seats.
INDIA bloc is thus by and large united, which has unnerved the ruling NDA alliance. No wonder Union Minister Giriraj Sigh has called Mahagathbandhan a group of “ticket selling parties”. Nevertheless, he has unwittingly betrayed the BJP’s real intention and gameplan against Nitish Kumar under whose leadership NDA is overtly contesting the Bihar elections.
Giriraj Singh has even indirectly denied any weightage to be given to Nitish Kumar during the election campaign. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming campaigns in the state will ensure defeat of all these “vote-cutter” and “ticket seller” parties. He said that PM Modi will address a gathering of lakhs of people and kickstart the election campaign in Beguserai and Samastiput, and after that the Mahagathbandhan will collapse.
On the other hand, the CM face of Mahagathbandhan Tejaswi Yadav has said, “We have come together for the advancement of Bihar.” He claimed that the they will throw out the “useless” 20-year-old double-engine government in the state. The epithet double-engine government has been coined by the NDA because both at the State and Centre they are in power. Tejaswi said that one engine is corrupt while the other engine is criminal.
BJP’s reaction to the announcement of the INDIA bloc’s CM face was also equally sharp. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala has said that Mahagathbandhan has not mission or vision. On boards and posters featuring only Tejaswi Yadav displayed at the venue of the Mahagathbandhan’s press conference, where bloc’s CM face was announced, Poonawala sarcastically asked if RJD thought Rahul Gandhi as a “liability”?
Congress observer Ashok Gehlot, while announcing the Mahagathbandhan’s CM face, said, “Now we have our CM face, the NDA should tell who is their CM face. It’s not like contesting an election under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. They should declare their CM face.”
There is no denying the fact that an anti-establishment sentiment pervading Bihar against the two decades rule of CM Nitish Kumar. This fact has instilled fear within the NDA, especially in the BJP, that has no option but to avoid announcing its CM face. A whisper campaign has been initiated by the RSS-BJP that CM Nitish Kumar will be replaced by a new chief minister from the BJP. (IPA Service)
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