Internal discord in Grand Alliance: Heated spat between Congress and RJD after defeat in Bihar

Patna: Once again the fight regarding alliance has intensified in Bihar politics. The statement of senior Congress leader and former MLA from Kadwa in Katihar district Shakeel Ahmed Khan has created a stir within the Grand Alliance. Khan says that the alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) did not give any concrete electoral benefit to Congress, rather the party had to suffer losses. RJD has reacted sharply to his assessment.

Congress needs independent politics

Shakeel Ahmed Khan clearly said that Congress should create its own separate political identity in Bihar. According to him, due to the alliance with RJD, Congress could neither increase the number of seats in the Assembly nor could it strengthen the organization at the grassroots level. He said that due to the alliance, there was confusion among the party workers and the role of Congress remained limited. Khan believes that the party leadership should do serious introspection on this entire experiment.

Questions on seat distribution and strategy

Khan alleged that RJD marginalized Congress from seat distribution to election strategy. He says that Congress’s views were not taken seriously, due to which the party’s performance remained weak. It is noteworthy that Shakeel Ahmed Khan himself had lost to JDU’s Dulal Chandra Goswami in the recent assembly elections.

What do the election data say?

In the last Bihar Assembly elections, Congress had fielded candidates on 61 seats, but it won only six seats. Of these, four seats were from Seemanchal region, which is considered a strong stronghold of Congress. At present, Congress has two MPs and four MLAs from Seemanchal, while RJD has won only one assembly seat in this region and has no MP. These figures have further increased the dissatisfaction within the Congress regarding the alliance.

Mood changed after the defeat of Grand Alliance

According to party sources, in the review meeting held in Delhi after the defeat of the Grand Alliance in Bihar, Congress leaders almost unanimously opposed continuing the alliance with RJD. Congress leaders believe that if the party had contested the elections alone, its number of seats could have been better. He also argues that RJD’s image in Bihar is now becoming a party with a limited social base.

Controversy over keeping AIMIM out

Some Congress leaders claimed that the party had to bear the brunt of keeping All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) out of the alliance in Seemanchal. According to him, important seats like Kadwa and Kasba were lost due to this reason. Sources say that Congress wanted to include AIMIM in the alliance, but RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was against it.

RJD’s reaction

RJD has retaliated on these statements. RJD leader Arun Kumar said that the initiative for the alliance was taken by Congress itself. He clearly said that every party has the freedom to take its own decisions and if Congress wants to contest elections alone in Bihar, it can do so.

What next?

The increasing tension between Congress and RJD has given indications of new equations in the politics of Bihar. In the times to come, it will be interesting to see whether Congress actually adopts an independent path or looks for a new alliance.