Sanjay Singh, Patna: The situation between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress before and between the Bihar assembly elections was not smooth. Even before the elections, the tussle over seat distribution continued between RJD and Congress. After the crushing defeat in the elections, both the parties are blaming each other for the defeat. Former Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan and seven Congress candidates contesting the elections have even said that Congress’s continued association with RJD could be a suicidal step. Here, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari has said that Congress was able to get 6 seats in the elections only on the strength of RJD, the support base is left only with RJD.
Mrityunjay Tiwari says that Congress does not have its own support base. From this latest controversy, it seems that both the big parties involved in the grand alliance in Bihar will follow their respective paths differently. If we look at the last two elections, the performance of Congress has been very poor. This time RJD’s performance was also very poor.
Why did Congress and RJD leaders clash?
Even before the elections, Congress and RJD leaders were at loggerheads over seat distribution. Congress did not declare Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial face till the end. This increased the sourness between the two parties. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had to intervene to reduce the tension. After the intervention of Ashok Gehlot, Tejashwi became the face of the Chief Minister in the grand alliance.
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There was also a dispute regarding seat distribution between Congress and RJD. While Congress was demanding 70 seats, RJD was not ready to give more than 40 seats. In the end an agreement was reached on 60 seats. This controversy increased further after the election results came out. Friendly clashes took place at 11 places in the election. Congress says that this sent a negative message among the voters. If everything had been better then perhaps the election results would have also been better.
What did the Congress leaders say?
Former leader of Congress Legislature Party, Dr. Shakeel Ahmed Khan said, ‘Congress’s continuation with RJD in the grand alliance is a loss-making deal. After the elections, the Grand Alliance is now only formal. Congress will neither get electoral benefit by remaining with RJD nor will the organization become stronger. Congress is continuously losing its political space by being with RJD. All the seven Congress candidates contesting the elections also have the same opinion. The candidates have told the top leaders of the party that staying with RJD could prove suicidal for the Congress. Therefore, Congress needs to move away from RJD and do politics to strengthen its roots in Bihar.
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On the other hand, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari has said, ‘Congress won the elections on six seats by using RJD’s support base. RJD had contested elections on 142 seats. It won 25 seats, while Congress contested 60 seats and won only six seats. This makes it clear that Congress has no support base of its own. If Congress was not given more seats, RJD’s support base would have increased further. Congress does not have any vote bank of its own. Congress got political benefit by compromising with RJD. If Congress leaders want to follow a different path then let them do so, the party will not stop them. No other party has this much support base of RJD in the entire state. The people here know and understand very well what happened in the elections.
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