PATNA: At a time when the ruling BJP has already declared that upcoming Assembly elections will be contested under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, internal conflict has erupted between the RJD and Congress over CM’s face.
Congress MLA Ajit Sharma questioned Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as CM face of the grand-alliance, the RJD reiterated that there was no dispute over former deputy CM’s candidature in the assembly elections due in October-November.
Sharma said the name of CM candidate of the grand-alliance will be decided by Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge after the elections. “If the grand-alliance wins the elections and RJD gets the most seats, Tejashwi will become CM,” he added.
Sharma’s remarks did not go down well in RJD circles. RJD MP Manoj Jha reiterated the party’s stand on CM candidate and said that Tejashwi would lead the assembly elections. “There is no dispute over CM’s face of opposition,” he added.
The RJD Rajya Sabha member said the 2020 Assembly poll was contested under Tejashwi’s leadership. “In 2025, people of Bihar see Tejashwi as an alternative. There is no question over Tejashwi’s leadership. He has already proven his leadership in previous poll,” he said.
Jha said seat-sharing discussions will be held in due course. He said that senior leaders of alliance partners would sit together to finalise seats. Before that respective parties will discuss the matter with their own top leaders, he revealed.
Earlier, Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh had said that Congress would get respectable number of seats in the Assembly polls. In 2020 election, the Congress had contested 70 seats. Of them, party could win 19 seats only.
Meanwhile, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad took a jibe at disagreement between RJD and Congress over CM candidate of grand alliance.