Mahgathbandhan alliance in Bihar seems to be in troubled waters as the parties of the grouping have fielded their own candidates in the upcoming by-polls. The coalition which was supposed to counter the National Democratic Alliance seems to be struggling with the internal struggle.
RJD has fielded Rabiya Khatoon from Nathanagr constituency, Ramdev Yadav from Belhar assembly and Zafar Alam from Simri Bakhtiarpur seat. The party said that the nominee for Daraunda will be announced soon.
After RJD fielded its candidate from the respective constituencies, HAM founder Jitan Ram Manjhi also took the matter in his own hands and selected Ajay Rai as its candidate from Nathnagar. He also accused the RJD of “helping the BJP in the name of fighting it“.
Manjhi expressed his anger and questioned the RJD whether it wants to stay in the grand alliance or not. Responding to this, RJD national spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha urged his alliance partners to hold their horses. He said, “We are experiencing a period of political adversity. I would urge allies not to make haste and take any decision that may not be in sync with the ground realities.”
The sudden change in the atmosphere of Bihar politics has also prompted the Congress party to go solo. Speaking to the media, Congress state secretary in-charge Virender Singh Rathore said that the party will contest the upcoming elections alone.
Bihar by-poll details-
Bihar will got to the by-polls for five seats on October 21. The constituency that will see the elections are Daraunda, Nathnagar, Simari Bakhtiarpur, Kishanganj. Beside these seats, Samstipur Lok Sabha seat will also go to polls as the seat fell vacant owing to the death of second-time MLA Ram Chandra Paswan.
Nathdwara seat fell vacant when the sitting JD(U) MLA Ajay Mandal was elected to the Lok Sabha while Kishanganj seat fell empty because its MLA Mohammed Jawed was elected to Lok Sabha too. Simaria Bakhtiyarpur, Darauanda, and Belhar were earlier held by Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Kavita Singh, and Giridhari Yadav respectively. All of them are the leaders of the JD(U) party. They all were elected to the Parliament too.
“All is not well’ in Mahgathabandhan
With the latest announcement of fielding their respective candidates from various seats, the parties have shown that they are not happy with the alliance. Previously also, Jitan Ram Manjhi iterated his strong will to contest from Nathdwara Vidhan sabha seat in Bhagalpur at any cost.