Patna, January 31: With barely a couple of months remaining for the Lok Sabha elections 2019 to commence, the Mahagathbandhan is reportedly in a fix in Bihar, as the six party-coalition is yet to finalise the seat-sharing pact. The two largest stakeholders of the grand alliance - the Congress and the RJD - have marked their differences on the number of constituencies the former should contest.
The Congress state unit has sent out feelers to the Tejashwi Yadav camp, seeking to contest 15 out of the 40 parliamentary seats in the state. The latter, according to reports, has rejected the grand old party's demand. Tejashwi Yadav to Share Dais With Rahul Gandhi on February 3.
According to CNN News 18, Tejashwi has conveyed to the Congress leadership that it cannot be allotted 15 seats. The reasons for the denial could be the lack of electoral grounds held by the party in the state.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress was reduced to 2 seats, whereas, in the 2015 assembly elections, it played the role of a third fiddle -- behind the RJD and the JD(U). The party currently has 27 MLAs, whereas, the RJD had won 80 seats.
Despite the adverse response from the RJD on its proposal, a Congress insider said the party would continue to negotiate. The option of contesting solo has been ruled out, he claimed.
The Mahagathbandhan, which also comprises of Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM-S, Upendra Kushwaha RLSP, Sharad Yadav's LJD and Mukesh Sahni's VIP, faces a formidable task of defeating the National Democratic Alliance -- which includes the BJP, JD(U) and LJP.
While the seat-sharing talks are still in the nascent stage in the grand alliance, the NDA has finalised the pre-poll pact -- with the JD(U) and the BJP contesting on 17 seats each, whereas, the LJP will field its candidates from the remaining 6 constituencies.
At least two pre-poll surveys -- the India Today Mood of The Nation and the ABP News-C Voter -- have predicted a rout for the Mahagathbandhan. The alliance is expected to be reduced to 5 seats, whereas, the Modi-Nitish-Paswan combine is predicted to sweep 35 constituencies.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2019 04:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).