Bihar Elections: RJD Gets 135 Seats, Congress 61 as Grand Alliance Finalizes Formula

After weeks of intense negotiations marked by public bickering, Bihar's opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) has finalised a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming state assembly elections, sources confirmed to NDTV. The deal, hammered out late Monday, represents a compromise between key allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, setting the stage for a unified challenge against the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United).

Under the arrangement, the RJD—headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav and led by his son Tejashwi Yadav—will contest 135 of Bihar's 243 assembly seats, down from its initial demand of 144. Congress, a national party with a foothold in the state since its 2020 alliance with RJD, has settled for 61 seats, a reduction from its ambitious ask of over 70. The party had insisted on "winnable" constituencies to bolster its presence in the eastern and northern regions. The remaining seats will be allocated to smaller partners: the Left Front—comprising the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), or CPIML, the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the CPI (Marxist), or CPM—is slated for 29 to 31 seats, while Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) secures 16. This distribution aims to consolidate the alliance's diverse vote banks, including Yadavs, Muslims, and backward castes.

A pivotal resolution in the talks was the decision to project Tejashwi Yadav as the alliance's chief ministerial candidate, addressing a sticking point that had delayed progress. Congress had strategically withheld support on this front to leverage more seats, maintaining silence despite Yadav's repeated public assertions of his leadership role. Sources indicated no immediate clarity on deputy chief minister positions, though Sahni of VIP had demanded one, citing his party's sway among the Nishad and other backward communities. The inclusion of two additional parties—the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), an RJD-Congress ally in neighbouring Jharkhand, and the India Inclusive Party (IIP)—further complicated dynamics but was accommodated without major concessions. JMM will receive seats from RJD's quota, while IIP, which draws strong support from the weaver community in eastern Bihar, is earmarked for the Saharsa constituency.

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This agreement comes against the backdrop of Bihar's politically charged landscape, where the 2020 elections saw the Mahagathbandhan win 110 seats but fall short due to internal fractures and Nitish Kumar's mid-term switch to the BJP-led NDA. With polls due by November 2025, the deal underscores the opposition's urgency to present a cohesive front amid anti-incumbency against the NDA's governance on issues like unemployment and floods. Analysts note that while the seat split favours RJD's organisational strength, it risks alienating Congress's urban base if perceived as lopsided. As formal announcements loom, the alliance's unity will be tested in candidate selections and campaign coordination, potentially reshaping Bihar's power equations.

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