Bihar Congress Advocates Adjusted Seat Sharing in INDIA Bloc for Upcoming Lok Sabha Election

The Bihar Congress is responding strategically to the plans laid out by allies Janata Dal United (JD(U)) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for the imminent Lok Sabha election. Faced with the proposal of each ally contesting on 16 seats, the state Congress chief, Akhilash Singh, has put forth an alternative suggestion.

In an interview with NDTV, Akhilash Singh proposed a more balanced approach, recommending that both allies scale back to contesting 15 seats each. To accommodate this adjustment, one seat could be allocated to CPIML, leaving the Congress to vie for the remaining seats.

Highlighting the necessity for flexibility among political parties within the INDIA Bloc, Mr. Singh emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts for successful election campaigns.

“The JD(U) collaborated with the BJP in Bihar in 2019, and it’s positive that they are allied with us now. Acknowledging their higher number of sitting MPs, we propose this revised seat distribution,” Mr. Singh conveyed to NDTV.

Bihar, with its 40 Lok Sabha seats, witnessed the Congress contesting nine seats in the 2019 election when the alliance included Nitish Kumar’s association with the BJP. Seeking a respectable share of seats this time around, the Congress aims for strategic negotiations.

While some INDIA Bloc leaders advocate allocating only one seat to CPI(M-L) in Bihar, the historical performance in the last election saw the JD(U) securing 19 seats, the highest in the region. The BJP won 17 seats, and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party secured six.

The long-pending seat-sharing talks within the INDIA Bloc have commenced, with the state unit leaders of the Congress overseeing the negotiations, as stated by the party’s chief, Mallikarjun Kharge.