Bihar Assembly Election 2025: No announcement has been made yet about how the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar will share seats for the upcoming elections. The deadline for filing nominations for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, which will take place on November 6, ended on Friday. Voting will occur for 121 seats out of the 243-seat Bihar Assembly.
The allies in the Grand Alliance, which include the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI, and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), have submitted their nominations for these 121 seats. However, there are disagreements among the parties regarding several of these seats. Nominations can be withdrawn as early as next Monday, raising hopes that a consensus may be reached before that time.
The second phase of voting is scheduled for November 11, with a nomination deadline of October 20.
Grand Alliance has failed to reach agreement on many seats
The Grand Alliance has failed to reach agreement on many seats, with some parties releasing candidate lists independently. There are expected to be "friendly fights" among allies for about six to seven seats, including Kutumba, Lalganj, Vaishali, Bachhwara, and Kahalgaon. The Congress party has announced candidates for 48 seats, while CPI(ML) has named candidates for 20 seats. Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insaan Party has declared its candidacy for 15 seats.
Cong likely to receive 61 seats
The deadline to withdraw nominations is October 22, and it is hoped that the Grand Alliance will finalize its arrangements by then. A former Bihar Congress president, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the Congress is likely to receive 61 seats, but they may be at a disadvantage due to internal competition among allies.
He expressed doubt that there would be any formal announcement regarding seat-sharing. The lack of agreement could lead to losses for the Grand Alliance. Besides, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is looking for clarity on its seat-sharing arrangement with the RJD, as they prepare to contest the Bihar elections.
Prakash Kumar Pandey