Bihar elections 2020: From ruling NDA to Opposition 'Mahagathbandhan', everything you need to know about major alliances

Bihar's traditional powerhouses JDU of CM Nitish Kumar and the opposition RJD under young Tejashwi Yadav have found wingmen in BJP and Congress respectively.
Supporters of the 'Mahagathbandhan' campaigning at Digha Assembly seat of Bihar. (Photo | Twitter @SauravK1890)
Supporters of the 'Mahagathbandhan' campaigning at Digha Assembly seat of Bihar. (Photo | Twitter @SauravK1890)

It is politics as usual ahead of India's first COVID-era assembly elections in Bihar. Some parties have decided to bury old rivalries for the common good, while some had to split ways with allies.

Bhim Army chief Chandrasekhar Azad, BJP "rebel" Yashwant Sinha and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM are also around to lend their colour. Meanwhile, traditional powerhouses JDU of CM Nitish Kumar and the opposition RJD under young Tejashwi Yadav have found wingmen in the BJP and Congress respectively.

For everyone keen on knowing their Bihar better, here then is our primer on the major alliances.

Bihar, with 243 Assembly seats, will go to polls in three phases: October 28, November 3 and November 7. The results are scheduled to be declared on November 10.

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE (NDA)

GRAND ALLIANCE/MAHAGATHBANDHAN

GRAND DEMOCRATIC SECULAR FRONT (GDSF)

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC FRONT (PDF)

UNITED DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

In June, former finance and external affairs minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha announced his entry into Bihar politics and hinted that he was planning to float a new political front. 

The veteran has set the ball rolling by bringing 15 small parties capable of influencing pockets across Bihar under an umbrella. His recruits include former World Bank director Gulrej Hoda's Jan Sangharsh Dal Bhartiya Sablog Party, Janata Dal Rashtrawadi, Vanchit Samaj Party, Janata Party and LJP (Secular). 

“All of us had expected development from a man (Nitish Kumar), who claims and calls himself “sushashan babu” (good governance babu), yet Bihar is the poorest in the country,” Sinha had said earlier in Patna.
 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com