Patna:
The Congress on Saturday claimed that a less than “respectable” share of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar would affect not just the party, but the entire ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).
State Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh made the statement when he was asked about speculations in a section of the media that the party has been asked to settle for not more than four out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections.
“The Mahagathbandhan as a whole, including the JD(U), will suffer if the Congress fights only four seats, though it is not our case that we be given nine just because we had contested that many in 2019,” said Singh.
Reports have surfaced in a section of media that JD(U) wants 17 seats for itself, as many as it had contested five years ago, winning all but one.
A key aide of Kumar has made it clear that for the JD(U), a number less than 16, its current strength in Lok Sabha, was out of question.
“We have 16 seats. On these, the question of a claim or any confusion should not arise,” JD(U) national general secretary Sanjay Kumar Jha said.
Jha also said “whatever may be the demand of the Congress, it should convey the same to the RJD. We will be sitting across the table with the RJD for final discussions on seat sharing”.
The JD(U) leader’s averment was in the backdrop of a general understanding reached within the Mahagathbandhan that since the chief minister’s party was a new entrant, having joined the coalition after dumping the BJP less than two years ago, the RJD, the largest constituent, be allowed to negotiate on behalf of smaller partners.
A statement to this effect was made some time ago by CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who had said the number of seats his party desired has been shared with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who would negotiate on behalf of other junior partners with the JD(U).
No RJD leader has, so far, hinted the number of seats the party wanted to contest and Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy CM, denied having taken up the issue with Kumar.
“He is the CM and I am the deputy. There can be any number of issues for us to discuss. Do not worry too much about seat-sharing. We will let you know in due course,” said Yadav, when journalists approached him with queries.
Mahagathbandhan leaders are of the view that the RJD, which is numerically far superior to the JD(U) in the assembly, would have liked to have the lion’s share of Lok Sabha seats.
Its bargaining power has, however, been hit because of its dismal performance in the general elections of 2019 when it failed to win a single seat.
The BJP-led NDA, which then included JD(U), had won 39 out of 40 seats while the Congress bagged Kishanganj, becoming the lone Mahagathbandhan constituent to have escaped the ignominy of drawing a blank at the hustings.
However, sources in the Mahagathbandhan added it was unlikely that the RJD would agree to a share smaller than the JD(U), especially in the light of the fact that Kumar has indicated that in the next assembly polls, it will be Tejashwi Yadav who will lead the charge for the coalition.
In the event of both JD(U) and RJD deciding to contest 17 seats each, the Congress, CPI(ML) L, CPI and CPI(M) will have to be accommodated in the remaining six.
Sanjay Kumar Jha was also asked whether by insisting on a high number of seats, JD(U) was trying to put pressure on Congress for naming Kumar as the convenor of INDIA.
“Nitish Kumar has already made it clear that he has forged opposition unity to defeat the BJP. He desires nothing for himself. We want seat-sharing to be complete by this month because this was the view expressed by our leader at last month’s INDIA meet in Delhi. He feels we cannot afford to lose much time,” Jha said.
When Akhilesh Prasad Singh was asked the same question, he replied: “The Congress has great appreciation for the contribution made by Kumar in cobbling together the coalition. But, to name him as the convenor is not entirely in the hands of our party. There needs to be a consensus among other constituents of INDIA. Talks are on.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Hindkesharistaff and is published from a syndicated feed.)