Bihar Elections 2025: Mahagathbandhan deadlock on seat sharing persists, Congress first list out as clock ticks

The Mahagathbandhan alliance in Bihar has not finalised a seat-sharing formula, even as Congress released the names of 48 candidates it is fielding in the upcoming Bihar Election 2025.

Friday, 17 October, is the last day for filing nominations for the first phase of polling, scheduled for 6 November. With time running out, the candidates of the Mahagathbandhan may proceed to file nominations and later withdraw their names if needed.

Bihar Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. The first phase will involve voting for 121 seats, while the second and final phases of the elections will involve voting for the remaining 122 seats. The results will be announced on 14 November.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal United – the two major National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties – have already released names of all 101 seats that they are contesting in the Bihar elections.

Cracks in Mahagathbandhan

Earlier on Thursday, BJP's Bihar unit chief Dilip Jaiswal hit out at the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan, hinting at possible cracks within the alliance as the Opposition was yet to announce its seat-sharing arrangement.

Jaiswal took a jibe at the Opposition's alliance, saying that the public has faith in the NDA. "The list of candidates for 101 seats has been released. The NDA is the first alliance to release its seat-sharing numbers and the list of candidates... There are conflicts going on in the Mahagathbandhan, and no decision has been made until now," Jaiswal told news agency ANI hours before the Congress list was out late on Thursday night.

The Congress leadership has been in talks with its alliance partners, including the RJD and the Left. The party has fielded state unit chief Rajesh Ram from Kutumba seat and CLP leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan from Kadwa. The party has fielded Bihar Youth Congress chief Prakash Garib Das from Bachhwada seat while Jayesh Mangal Singh will contest from Bagaha.

Ex- RSS guy, branding team member in the first list

The highlight of the Congress party’s first list was, however, Amit Giri from the Nautan (West Champaran) seat. Till recently, Giri was associated with the RSS and is said to be close to BJP West Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal.

In 2020, the Congress contested 70 constituencies and won 19. The party has fielded nine of its 17 sitting MLAs. Two MLAs have defected since 2020.

From Patna Sahib in Patna, the Congress has fielded Shashank Shekhar, a Yadav, who was a part of the party’s branding team until recently.