RJD, Congress lock horns over bypolls in Bihar; NDA witnesses tussle between HAM, RLSP

Congress and ally RJD were on Sunday locked in a tug of war over the Bhabua Assembly seat while a similar tussle unfolded between two smaller parties in the ruling NDA for the Jehanabad seat.
RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav said his party would field candidates for all the three bypolls in the state. (File | PTI)
RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav said his party would field candidates for all the three bypolls in the state. (File | PTI)

PATNA: With Bihar’s main ruling party JD(U) having withdrawn itself from next month’s bypolls, the Opposition Congress and ally RJD were on Sunday locked in a tug of war over the Bhabua Assembly seat while a similar tussle unfolded between two smaller parties in the ruling NDA for the Jehanabad seat.

Relations between RJD and its ally Congress slumped as RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav said his party would field candidates for all the three bypolls in the state. “Our party will have candidates for Araria Lok Sabha seat and also for the Assembly seats of Jehanabad and Bhabua,” said Tejaswi, the younger son of jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, in Purnea during his ongoing statewide tour in Purnea.

“We will sit together and decide a consensus candidate for the Bhabua seat. No claim has been made by anyone on that seat so far,” said state Congress president Kaukab Quadri, declining to comment on Tejaswi’s statement.

Senior Congress leader and former state unit chief Ashok Chaudhary, who had recently insisted on his party putting up a candidate for the Araria seat, said: “When BJP is likely to contest all the three bypolls in Bihar, Congress should contest in at least one constituency. Our ally (RJD) should heed our party’s interests”. Quadric had made it clear on Saturday that Congress was okay with RJD contesting the Araria seat.

The Araria seat fell vacant in September 2017 when RJD veteran and sitting MP Mohammad Taslimuddin, a former Union minister, died after an illness. Bhabua’s BJP MLA Anand Bhushan Pandey and Jehanabad’s RJD MLA Mundrika Yadav died following illness in November and October last respectively.

In the NDA camp, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi insisted that his party, Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) be allowed to field its candidate in Jehanabad. Manjhi, the only MLA of HAM in the state Assembly, also indicated that he might consider parting ways with NDA unless a candidate from his party gets to contest in Jehanabad.

BJP, which is keen on retaining Jehanabad with itself, found the tussle harder when Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) staked claim to the seat. RLSP chief and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha reportedly told the BJP leadership that he wants one of his party’s leaders to be the NDA candidate in Jehanabad.

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