PATNA: The united face put up by the RJD-led Grand Alliance lay in tatters before the media when one of its allies, the Vikashsheel Insaan Party, rebelled against the alliance when it failed to get any seat.
Announcing the final seat-sharing arrangement on Saturday, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said his party would contest 144 seats, Congress 70, CPI-ML 19, CPI six and CPM four.
The Bihar assembly has a strength of 243. Yadav also announced that the Congress would contest the Lok Sabha by-election on November 3.
He said the VIP and the JMM would be accommodated later from his party’s quota.
The moment Yadav finished, VIP president Mukesh Sahni took hold of the mike and announced that his party had been betrayed and backstabbed.
He announced an immediate break from the alliance and left the venue with party other leaders. His supporters created a ruckus for an hour and shouted slogans against the alliance and Yadav.
At his wits end, Yadav immediately left the venue escorted by his security guards but only to be gheraoed by VIP supporters.
Sahni told the media that his party was assured 25 seats and the post of the deputy CM. He claimed that his party enjpys the support of Dalits, mahadalits and other extremely poor communities.
“The Grand Alliance at the behest of the RJD betrayed us and stabbed us in the back. They have humiliated millions of poor people and they will be given a fitting reply in the elections,” Sahni claimed.
He said his party would announce its next move on Sunday at a media briefing. Responding to the VIP’s allegations, the RJD said Sahni and his party were acting at the behest of the NDA.
“Sahni was not invited at the announcement for the seat-sharing arrangement but he arrived on his own. He was determined to create an ugly scene,” RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav alleged.
Taking a dig at the RJD, JD-U spokesperson Ajay Alok said the RJD and its allies have shown their true face towards a party of the poor.