Bihar Elections: How Ashok Gehlot’s Diwali call to Tejashwi Yadav melted Congress-RJD standoff, cleared CM face hurdle

Patna: The opposition Mahagathbandhan has declared Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav as the Chief Ministerial face for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections on Thursday. Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) Chief Mukesh Sahani was named as the Deputy Chief Ministerial face of the alliance.

The development virtually ends the tussle within the INDIA bloc parties, at least for now. The seat-sharing deal between the RJD and Congress was reportedly held back due to the Congress party’s refusal to endorse Tejashwi as the Chief Ministerial face before the polls. Tejashwi is also the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly.

A phone call to wish on Diwali

But how did the ice break after days of negotiation between the RJD and the Congress party? Well, it was a phone call from former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to Tejashwi Yadav on Diwali. While the two leaders exchanged festival greetings, Tejashwi also invited Gehlot to meet RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna. Two days later, Gehlot landed in Patna and met Lalu Yadav and family on 22 October.

Gehlot is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) senior observer for the Bihar elections and has also been given the responsibility to oversee 20 of the 61 seats that the Congress is contesting. The Congress party won 19 seats in the 2020 Bihar elections.

“While Congress had been averse to making Tejashwi the face, the RJD had issued with Mukesh Sahani- led Vikassheel Insaan Party in the alliance. This became a bone of contention. Finally, the Congress agreed to make Tejashwi the CM face, provided Sahani is made the Deputy CM face,” said a leader of the alliance who did not want to be named.

Sahani, whose party is contesting 15 seats in the alliance, is a prominent member of the Nishad, also referred to as the Mallaah community, often associated with fishing. With 2.5 per cent of Bihar’s population, Mallah is a broad OBC (Other Backwards Class) community traditionally associated with boatmanship, river work, and fishing.

Sahani had initially demanded 60 seats and the Dey CM post, but later went down to 30 seats. “Tejashwi was not keen on VIP party since he thought Mallah’s would anyway vote for RJD. But Rahul Gandhi has been kind of championing the backward community causes and hence he wanted Sahani, also known as ‘Son of Mallah’ also to be face of the alliance,” the leader confided.

A united face

Ashok Gehlot made the announcement about the CM and Deputy CM's faces at Patna’s Hotel Maurya. The alliance leaders put up a united front, with RJD MP Manoj Jha requesting each member speak about ‘ekta’ or unity.

Tejashwi Yadav and other leaders, including Mukesh Sahani, Bihar Congress- In-charge Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) President Rajesh Ram and those representing the left parties present during the press conference.

There has been no official announcement of seat-sharing between the alliance partners. The RJD is contesting 143 of the 243 seats of Bihar. Congress is contesting 61 seats, CPI ML is contesting 20, and the VIP on 15 seats, as per an informal arrangement.

There were at least five seats where candidates of both RJD and Congress are in the fray, and in three others, the grand old party is pitted against a smaller alliance partner, the CPI. Soon after Thursday's announcements, four Mahagathbandhan candidates—three from the Congress and one from the VIP —withdrew their nominations for their ally, the RJD.

At Sadakant Ashram, the Bihar office of the Congress party. A few miles away from Hotel Maurya, where Tejashwi's announcement was made, a group of disgruntled Congress leaders, including former MLAs, staged a protest for being denied tickets.

As Bihar ushers in the Chhath mood, Yadav is geared up to start a campaign trail. Remember, Yadav had openly declared Rahul Gandhi the INDIA bloc's Prime Ministerial candidate before.