Congress may get 50-plus seats in Mahagathbandhan share, RJD will retain 2020 numbers

The negotiations between the Congress and RJD over seat-sharing for the Bihar Assembly polls is nearing an understanding, sources in the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state told The Indian Express. While the Congress has been pushing for the same number of seats as it contested in the 2020 polls, 70, the RJD does not want to give more than 50-55 seats. A deal may be eventually reached with the Congress getting 58-60 seats, sources said. Advertisement Bihar has 243 Assembly seats. In the 2020 polls, the Mahagathbandhan alliance led by the RJD included the Congress, CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M). While the RJD contested in 144 seats, the Congress fought in 70, and the CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) were allotted 19, 6 and 4 seats respectively. The RJD had emerged as the single largest party, winning 75 of its 144 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, had got only 19 of its share of 70. The CPI(ML) had the best strike rate among the allies, winning 12 of its 19 seats. A senior RJD leader said negotiations were on in “a friendly atmosphere”. “Naturally, any ally will want to retain the number of seats they contested in the last polls. But this time, we have more allies. Mukesh Sahni’s VIP (Vikassheel Insaan Party) and Pashupati Kumar Paras’s LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) also have to be accommodated. We have tried to reason with the Congress that, as the second largest partner, it has to share the burden. There is an understanding developing and hopefully things will be concluded soon to everyone’s satisfaction.”