New Delhi:After the successful INDIA bloc rally in Patna on March 3, Congress and RJD leaders will meet in Delhi over the next few days to finalise a seat-sharing deal in Bihar.
According to party insiders, the Congress has demanded 10 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and hopes to get 8 or 9 seats. “The alliance meeting will take place in a few days to finalize seat-sharing. The alliance will do very well in Bihar,” AICC secretary in charge of Bihar Ajay Kapoor told ETV Bharat.
In 2019, Mohammad Jawed was the lone Congress MP from Kishanganj while the NDA won the remaining 39 seats. In 2014, the Congress had two MPs. There is also a proposal to induct Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav into the alliance and field him from the Purnia seat, however approval for the same has to come from RJD chief Lalu Prasad, said party insiders.
When Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra had entered Bihar recently, the Congress had organized a major rally in Purnia. Further, the contentious Katihar seat also needs to be discussed as the Congress, RJD and CPI-ML all want to contest from that constituency. Former Congress Working Committee member Tariq Anwar, Bihar CLP leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan besides RJD’s Ashfaq are keen to contest from Katihar.
Recently, the Congress left one MLC seat for CPI-ML in exchange for RJD’s support for state unit chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, who was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. Though some state leaders are miffed that the Congress did not fight for the one MLC seat at a time when over 100 aspirants were lobbying for the same in Delhi, the others believe that such a give and take is needed in the eastern state to keep the alliance together against the ruling JD-U-BJP combine.