Bihar: Mahagathbandhan on verge of split, RJD likely to contest MLC polls alone, Congress claims it's capable to contest on its own

Ahead of the Legislative Council elections in Bihar likely to be held in March-April this year, the 'Mahagathbandhan' of Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal is on the verge of a split as Tejashwi Yadav refused to contest the elections together, following which Congress said that the party is capable of contesting the polls on all 24 seats on its own.

Notably, in the elections held on these 24 Legislative Council seats in 2016, the Congress party had contested on 4 seats, in which it could win only 1 seat. This time the Congress party wanted to contest on 6 seats under the alliance, on which the talks did not materialise.

Interestingly, in the month of October 2021, by-elections were held for two seats, Kusheshwar Sthan and Tarapur for the Bihar Legislative Assembly, in which RJD and Congress decided to contest separately.

Tejashwi had hinted on Saturday while speaking to the media that his party would contest the MLC polls on its own and RJD is in alliance with Congress in New Delhi.

Speaking to ANI, Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha alleged that his party leaders sought time from the RJD chief to hold talks on the seat-sharing, however, they did not receive any response from his side.

"Our leaders sought time to meet Lalu Yadav so that there could be talks on seat sharing, but till now no time has been received from Lalu Yadav's side. Therefore, the Congress party is preparing to contest the Legislative Council elections at its level," he said.

Madan Mohan Jha, referring to a statement of Lalu Yadav, said that after the by-elections in Bihar, Lalu Yadav had said that the alliance partners will fight the upcoming Legislative Council elections together and give 6 to 7 seats to the Congress in the Legislative Council elections. Therefore the RJD supremo has to decide on the alliance.

Jha further said that RJD has to take a decision on the future of the grand alliance in Bihar.

"There is a difference between the statements of Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Yadav, so first the father-son will have to decide whether they want to keep the grand alliance or not. Whether they want to do seat-sharing with Congress in the election of the Legislative Council or not," he said.

Talking about the stance of his own party, Jha said that Congress is capable of contesting on all the 24 seats on its own and the party has a list of candidates willing to hit the ground.

"Congress party is capable of contesting all the 24 Legislative Council seats to be held in Bihar. The party has a long list of candidates who want to contest elections. We are very strong in many seats and can contest elections effectively," he said.

However, the Congress state president clarified that the party high command will take the final call on contesting on all the 24 seats of the Council.

"All the information has been given to the Congress high command and now the party high command has to take the final decision to contest on 24 seats," he told ANI.

( With inputs from ANI )