Patna (Bihar): The Grand Alliance of the RJD, Congress, and Left parties formed during the recently-concluded Assembly polls, is set to be the main opposition to the NDA government in Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav was elected as the legislature party leader of the Mahagathbandhan at a meeting held at the residence of Rabri Devi.
There is no doubt that Tejashwi Yadav was the prime factor behind the poll results. He was the central figure in preparing the campaign strategy and selection of candidates.
However, both the Left and RJD are blaming the Congress for the failure of the Grand Alliance to reach the required majority to form the government. Before the meeting at the residence of Rabri Devi on November 11, the Left parties accused the Congress of not managing to win the seats allotted to them by the alliance. Several RLD leaders too have blamed the Congress for not having done its ground work properly.
Though Tejashwi Yadav was chosen as the leader of the Opposition, there is talk in political circles about distrust among the grand alliance partners.
Who is responsible for the defeat?
The Left parties have blamed the Congress for performing poorly in the assembly election. CPI (ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged that the Congress could not manage the seats it was assigned to contest as part of the seat-sharing arrangement of the Grand Alliance.
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The strike rate of the Congress was much less than the 2015 election even though it was allotted more seats to contest this time. Countering this, the Congress claimed that it was because of their support that the Left parties could win so many seats.
Congress happy about increased vote share
Congress has remained on the fringe of Bihar politics for a long time. The party got a fresh lease of life in the 2015 assembly elections after it joined hands with RJD and JDU in the alliance against NDA. The Congress had then won 27 assembly seats of the total 41 it had contested. The Congress had a vote share of 6.8 per cent.
In the 2020 election, the Congress, which contested on 70 seats and won 19 of them, had an increased vote share of 9.48 per cent. Though it did not win more seats than it had won in the 2015 election, the Congress is happy that its vote share has increased. The Left parties are not happy about this.
Left parties get more seats, but vote share does not increase
The victory of Left parties in the assembly election can be described as their comeback in Bihar politics. However, the Left parties know that the vote bank that helped them win the seats is not theirs in the long run. The Left parties' vote share was less than 1.5 per cent. It is a different matter that the Left parties could win in a contest involving three bigger parties. Left parties know that if the Congress was going to play a role in making policies of the Grand Alliance, it is not going to be to their benefit.
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The Grand Alliance will decide its future course of action under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav but for how long is still uncertain. However, from the war of words going on since the results, it appears that the Congress may not remain with the Grand Alliance for long.
The Congress is happy about the increase in its vote share and does not want to lose its ground earned since 2015 in Bihar. The party hopes to play a crucial role in policy-making of the Grand Alliance as the main opposition to the government. It is to be seen whether Tejashwi Yadav is able to convert the Grand Alliance into a cohesive opposition or an alliance of opposing political parties.
