PATNA: The delay in finalising the seat-sharing deal among the INDIA bloc partners prompted the CPM to announce its two candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
The filing of nominations for the first phase of elections, scheduled for November 6, began on Friday, even as seat-sharing talks remained unresolved.
The CPM announced Satyendra Yadav as its candidate from the Manjhi seat in Saran district and Ajay Kumar from Bibhutipur in Samastipur district. Sources said Yadav will file his nomination papers on October 14, while Kumar will do so on October 16. In the 2020 assembly elections, CPM had contested four seats and won two.
The announcement came shortly after the RJD met in Patna to try and finalise the contentious seat-sharing deal. Congress, a key ally, had given an ultimatum to RJD to complete the arrangements quickly. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad attended the meeting.
Congress leaders reportedly told INDIA bloc coordinator for the elections, Tejashwi Yadav, that they would start filing nominations for the seats going to polls in the first phase. The top leadership of Congress, in consultation with state leaders, has approved the names of 13 candidates for the first phase, though a formal announcement is yet to be made. The Congress has so far identified 25 seats for the elections.
The Congress is insisting on at least 65 seats and a deputy chief minister post. In 2020, Congress contested 70 seats and won 19. On Friday, its screening committee finalised the candidate names, and the party’s election committee will meet on October 11 to discuss seat-sharing.
Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar said, “We have allotted the seats to our party candidates and asked them to start preparations in their respective constituencies. But a formal announcement will be made very soon.”
According to the discussions at RJD’s meeting, RJD will contest 138 seats, Congress 52, the Left parties (CPI(M-L), CPI, CPM) 35, VIP 15, RLJP 2, and JMM 1. CPI general secretary D Raja said that the party has submitted a list of 24 seats to Tejashwi Yadav and hoped the party would get a “respectable” number of seats.
Even if the INDIA bloc manages to finalise the seat-sharing deal, it still has to resolve the impasse over the CM face.
