PATNA: RJD-Congress-Left Front Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) announced on Friday its seat-sharing formula for all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, with Lalu Prasad’s party getting the lion’s share of 26, Congress nine and Left parties five, reported.
RJD‘s 26 seats are seven more than it had contested in 2019, when it drew a blank. Congress’s nine is unchanged from last time, when it had won just one.Among Left parties, CPI-ML have got three and CPI and CPM one each.
RJD pulled into its kitty much sought-after Purnia seat, which Pappu Yadav had been eyeing ever since he joined Congress recently.
Purnia goes to RJD kitty; Cong’s Pappu to fight from home turf as independent
Pappu protested hours after the deal was announced by RJD secretary-general Abdul Bari Siddiqui amid the presence of other partners’ representatives, dropping enough hints about contesting from Purnea, his turf.
RJD has fielded former minister Bima Bharti from Purnia, which goes to the polls in the second phase on April 26. “The people of Purnia have said Pappu is their son, he won’t go anywhere… I have to abide by their order,” Pappu said.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said the GA partners had resolved to defeat BJP-led NDA in the state. Asked why Purnia was not given to Congress, Jha, as well as Congress state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, had no clear answer.
Former deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who was not in Patna when the pact was announced, later claimed the Bihar results would surprise all. “In Mahagathbandhan, all five partners have been adequately accommodated,” the RJD leader said.
Some of the new seats in RJD’s kitty are Gaya, Munger, Jamui, Valmikinagar, Purvi Champaran, Ujiyarpur, Madhubani, Supaul and Purnia. RJD has spared Bhagalpur and Maharajganj for Congress.
Congress gave up Purnia, Supaul, Munger and Valmikinagar and got Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, West Champaran and Maharajganj instead. Pappu’s wife Ranjeeta Ranjan had unsuccessfully contested from Supaul on a Congress ticket in 2019.
CPI-ML has been allotted Ara, Karakat and Nalanda, two more than in 2019. CPI and CPI-M got Begusarai and Khagaria, respectively. In 2019, CPI contested Begusarai independently with Kanhaiya Kumar as its candidate. Kanhaiya was pitted against RJD’s Tanweer Hasan and BJP’s Griraj Singh, who won.
Katihar, another constituency for which a tug-of-war was on between RJD and Congress, has gone to the Grand Old Party. RJD will contest from Siwan, which CPI-ML had been eyeing.
RJD‘s 26 seats are seven more than it had contested in 2019, when it drew a blank. Congress’s nine is unchanged from last time, when it had won just one.Among Left parties, CPI-ML have got three and CPI and CPM one each.
RJD pulled into its kitty much sought-after Purnia seat, which Pappu Yadav had been eyeing ever since he joined Congress recently.
Purnia goes to RJD kitty; Cong’s Pappu to fight from home turf as independent
Pappu protested hours after the deal was announced by RJD secretary-general Abdul Bari Siddiqui amid the presence of other partners’ representatives, dropping enough hints about contesting from Purnea, his turf.
RJD has fielded former minister Bima Bharti from Purnia, which goes to the polls in the second phase on April 26. “The people of Purnia have said Pappu is their son, he won’t go anywhere… I have to abide by their order,” Pappu said.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said the GA partners had resolved to defeat BJP-led NDA in the state. Asked why Purnia was not given to Congress, Jha, as well as Congress state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, had no clear answer.
Former deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who was not in Patna when the pact was announced, later claimed the Bihar results would surprise all. “In Mahagathbandhan, all five partners have been adequately accommodated,” the RJD leader said.
Some of the new seats in RJD’s kitty are Gaya, Munger, Jamui, Valmikinagar, Purvi Champaran, Ujiyarpur, Madhubani, Supaul and Purnia. RJD has spared Bhagalpur and Maharajganj for Congress.
Congress gave up Purnia, Supaul, Munger and Valmikinagar and got Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, West Champaran and Maharajganj instead. Pappu’s wife Ranjeeta Ranjan had unsuccessfully contested from Supaul on a Congress ticket in 2019.
CPI-ML has been allotted Ara, Karakat and Nalanda, two more than in 2019. CPI and CPI-M got Begusarai and Khagaria, respectively. In 2019, CPI contested Begusarai independently with Kanhaiya Kumar as its candidate. Kanhaiya was pitted against RJD’s Tanweer Hasan and BJP’s Griraj Singh, who won.
Katihar, another constituency for which a tug-of-war was on between RJD and Congress, has gone to the Grand Old Party. RJD will contest from Siwan, which CPI-ML had been eyeing.
Source Agencies
