Bihar Election 2025: The poll-bound state of Bihar is witnessing rising political tension as the opposition alliance Mahagathbandhan faces internal disputes over seat sharing. The coalition, which includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Indian National Congress, has failed to reach a consensus ahead of the crucial Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. As a result, both parties have fielded candidates in several overlapping constituencies, leading to what they call a ‘friendly fight’ — a term that has raised more questions than clarity.
The Mahagathbandhan is composed of the Congress, RJD, CPI, CPI(ML), and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). They are going head-to-head with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). Unlike the opposition bloc, the NDA had already announced its seat-sharing agreement in early October: BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, LJP (Ram Vilas) 29, and RLM and HAM 6 seats each.
The Bihar Assembly Elections will be held in two phases, on November 6 and 11, across 243 constituencies. Counting of votes will take place on November 14.
RJD Vs Congress: Friendly Fight Or Internal Tussle?
Here are some key constituencies witnessing intra-alliance clashes:
1- Vaishali: Ajay Kushwaha (RJD) vs Sanjiv Singh (Congress)
2- Kahalgaon: Rajnish Bharti (RJD) vs Praveen Kumar Kushwaha (Congress)
3- Narkatiaganj: Deepak Yadav (RJD) vs Shahswat Kedar Pandey (Cong)
4- Lalganj: Shivani Shukla (RJD) vs Aditya Kumar (Congress)
5- Sultanjganj: Chandan Sinha (RJD) vs Lalan Yadav (Cong)
6- Warsaliganj: Anita Devi (RJD) vs Satish Kumar Singh (Congress)
7- Other seats where the Mahagathbandhan are at odds include Tarapur, Rosera, Gaura Bauram, Alamnagar and Sikandra.
8- Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has accused the RJD of cunningness and has threatened to cut ties in Jharkhand as well.
Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan slammed the idea of a “friendly fight”, stating, “There is nothing called a friendly fight in politics.”
Will This Benefit NDA?
This disunity in the Mahagathbandhan may prove to be a strategic advantage for the NDA. When multiple alliance partners contest against each other, it leads to vote splitting, which would directly benefit the NDA. In several constituencies, especially where the margins are tight, even a small division in opposition votes could be enough for an NDA candidate to win.
Of the above-mentioned seats, the JDU has won the tightly contested Vaishali and Sultanganj, the BJP got Kahalgaon, Narkatiaganj, Lalganj, and Warsaliganj in the 2020 assembly polls. In the previous election, the Tarapur seat went to the JDU, Rosera to the BJP, Gaura Bauram to the VIP, Alamnagar to the JDU, and Sikandra to the HAM (NDA).
Of these, at least five seats saw a tight contest which could have gone either way, but the NDA managed to edge past the Mahagathbandhan. Now, with the further split of the votes on cards, the NDA will have an advantage on those seats this time as well.
Additionally, the confusion created among voters by intra-alliance rivalry could hurt the opposition’s credibility. Voters who support the broader ideology of Mahagathbandhan might find it difficult to choose between two allied candidates, leading to lower turnout, invalid votes, or a shift toward the more cohesive NDA alliance.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
