Today in Politics: In boost for INDIA, Congress, RJD set to seal seat-sharing deal in Bihar; Left on board

Amid the setbacks it has been facing, the latest being its inability to reach a consensus for seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Opposition INDIA alliance may find a bright spot in Bihar.

This is because the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which are key INDIA allies in Bihar, are expected to announce their final seat-sharing agreement on Friday, sources said. Five seats of the state’s total 40 have already been allotted to the three Left parties — the CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML) — which are also constituents of the INDIA bloc.

The Lalu Prasad-led RJD is going to contest 26 seats while the Congress would field its candidates in 9 seats, sources said.

The seat-sharing talks between the RJD and the Congress had been stuck for some time. After the RJD unilaterally decided on its candidates for four seats going to polls in the first phase on April 19, at least three senior Congress leaders expressed their unhappiness.

The agreement between the Congress and the RJD had hit the roadblock mainly over the Purnea seat. Former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who recently merged his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) with the Congress, has been adamant on contesting from Purnea, while the RJD plans to field former minister and Rupauli MLA Bima Bharati from the seat. Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Congress Rajya Sabha MP.

There was also said to be discontent in the RJD about the Congress’s move to induct Pappu Yadav in its fold. The JAP is said to have some influence in Bihar’s Seemanchal and Kosi regions.

Insiders in both the major INDIA parties had earlier told The Indian Express that the RJD was not willing to give the Congress more than five-six seats. The Congress was, however, demanding more