The political activities for the Bihar Assembly elections are picking up speed. Both the National Democratic Alliance and the Grand Alliance are gearing up for the contest, with key leaders making strategic moves.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kicked off the election campaign for the NDA. Meanwhile, in the Grand Alliance, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav also began his campaign, addressing a public meeting in Motihari on Sunday (March 23). He appealed to the people to support the formation of a government led by his son, Tejashwi Yadav. Lalu emphasised that Tejashwi’s leadership is crucial to ensuring women benefit from the Mai-Behan Samman Yojana.

NDA meeting on March 26

The NDA is planning its strategy for the elections. An important meeting is scheduled for March 26 in Delhi. Key participants will include BJP President JP Nadda, Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde, and Bihar’s Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha. This meeting will likely discuss election strategies and other issues, including the health of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, is also set to visit Bihar later this month, and this meeting is seen as crucial before his arrival.

Seat distribution issues in NDA

Within the NDA, party leaders are already voicing their demands for seat distribution. LJP-R leader and Union Minister Chirag Paswan has requested 60 seats, while HAM (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi is demanding 40. Manjhi claims his party can win at least 20 seats if given 40. In the 2020 election, BJP and JDU received 121 and 122 seats, respectively. BJP had allocated some seats to Mukesh Sahni’s VIP, and JDU had included Manjhi’s HAM in their coalition.

Seat struggles in the Grand Alliance

There is also a lot of competition within the Grand Alliance, especially regarding seat allocations. While Lalu Yadav and his son Tejashwi are conducting separate tours, Congress has sent Kanhaiya Kumar on a “Naukari Do, Palayan Roko Yatra.” Congress’s Bihar in-charge, Krishna Allavaru, has been touring districts to assess the situation. The party is under pressure to contest the election on RJD’s terms, similar to the previous election, where it was given predominantly unwinnable seats.

Congress’ uncertainty

Congress has been vague about its future in the Grand Alliance. During a joint press conference on Sunday, leaders like Pawan Khera and Krishna Allavaru avoided confirming any alliance details. They stated that the information would be shared at the right time. Congress’s position regarding the Grand Alliance is unclear, as its leaders have distanced themselves from RJD and haven’t spoken much about the alliance’s future.

Changing stance of Congress

There is a growing speculation that Congress may contest elections separately, following its recent decision to run independently in Haryana and Delhi. After the setbacks in these states, some believe Congress might take a similar route in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi, during his visit to Patna, even criticised the caste survey led by the Grand Alliance, a key initiative of Tejashwi Yadav. Additionally, party’s Bihar in-charge did not meet with Lalu Yadav, which is unusual given past interactions.

Congress’ performance in 2020

In the 2020 Bihar elections, Congress was allocated 70 seats in the Grand Alliance but only won 19 of them. RJD was dissatisfied with this outcome, as Tejashwi fell short of forming the government by just a few seats. As a result, the RJD is considering giving Congress fewer seats this time. In 2020, the RJD contested 143 seats, CPI (ML) got 19, and CPI and CPM received the remaining seats. Congress claims RJD strategically placed them in seats they were unlikely to win.