BackMultiple meetings in Bihar; Tejashwi may be chosen to lead RJD legislative party
Senior leaders of all Mahagathbandhan allies, including the RJD, Congress and Left Parties, will hold a brainstorming session at the residence of former chief minister Rabri DeviTop leaders of both RJD and Congress will also conduct individual meetings with their MLAs
PremiumNEW DELHI: Two days after the crucial Bihar assembly poll verdict, key political stakeholders are conducting marathon meetings in Patna on Thursday. Former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, who was the face of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the poll campaign, is likely to be announced as leader of its legislative party today in a meeting of newly elected party MLAs.
On Thursday, senior leaders of all Mahagathbandhan allies including the RJD, Congress and Left Parties will hold a brainstorming session at the residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi. Additionally, top leaders of both RJD and Congress will also conduct individual meetings with their MLAs on Thursday to discuss future course of action.
“We were given an urgent call and asked to come for a round of meetings on Thursday. Earlier we expecting this meeting would be post-Diwali. What we know right now is that all Mahagathbandhan MLAs will convene at one location to discuss what the way ahead is. We know that we are short of majority but almost all top leaders have been silent since the verdict came out and our sense is some big announcement could be made," a senior Mahagathbandhan leader who was recently elected to the assembly said requesting anonymity.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returned to power in Bihar by winning 125 seats, including 74 won by the Bharatiya Janata Party. While the alliance won a simple majority, the margin is wafer thin and is dependent on smaller allies like Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) which have four seats each in the assembly. As per the results on Tuesday, Yadav-led RJD became the largest party by winning one more seat than the BJP. However, the Mahagathbandhan which secured 110 seats in the assembly , remains the principal opposition alliance.
The issue of counting of electronic voting machines (EVMs) could also come up in the opposition meetings on Thursday, another person aware of the developments said. Senior leaders of all Mahagathbandhan parties had raised concerns saying that in some of the seats the counting process has not been fair —a charge that the Election Commission (EC) had denied saying it has been transparent.
“We had met poll officials and demanded that action should be taken on some of the seats where we feel polling process has not been transparent but not much happened. This issue is likely to come up in the common opposition meeting today and we will decide on how to pursue this further," another opposition leader added.
The term of the current legislative assembly in Bihar ends on 29 November. Senior poll officials in Bihar are going to meet the governor to officially submit the list of newly elected MLAs after which the process of government formation can be kickstarted formally.
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