Rift among GA partners widens in Bihar

PATNA: The rift among the constituents of Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan led by RJD in Bihar is widening each day. Almost a week after former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM-S) announced to go it alone in the state assembly elections due next year, it’s now the turn of Congress to follow the suit.
A senior Congress leader and MLC Premchand Mishra said on Tuesday that the party had entered into an alliance with RJD, HAM (S), RLSP and VIP to take on BJP-led NDA in the 2019 parliamentary elections in the state.“It doesn’t mean that the same combination will also continue in 2020,” Mishra said.
Mishra also hinted at Congress joining hands with like-minded parties in next assembly polls in Bihar. “A new facet of Grand Alliance may arise after discussions among like-minded parties. Every party is now trying to strengthen its support base for the upcoming election and we are also doing the same,” the Congress MLC said.
He, however, hastened to add that the party high command would take a final call on the issue at the right time. “Though RJD is a trusted partner, the high command will decide whether to go it alone or with alliance partners in the assembly election. The Congress has high respect for RJD,” he added.
When asked about any possibility of alliance with CM Nitish Kumar’s JD (U), Mishra said, “As long as Nitishji is with NDA, there is no question of bringing his party into the GA fold. He (Nitish) is happy with NDA and he had told it time and again that he was a part and parcel of NDA, albeit differences on some issues like Article 370 and ‘triple talaq’,” he asserted.
Mishra’s utterances assumed significance in the wake of surging demand of a section of Congress workers to contest the assembly election at its own. “The entire opposition appears to be demoralized and directionless. The internal bickering in the GA started soon after the distribution of seats in the Lok Sabha elections,” Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) working president Kaukab Quadri said.
The BPCC president said that absence of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, leader of opposition in the state assembly, from political scene for long is not good in the larger interest of GA. “This is perhaps the reason behind Manjhi’s declaration to contest election at his own,” Quadri told TOI on Tuesday.
RJD on the other hand, is apparently facing a leadership vacuum with Tejashwi missing from active politics after the Lok Sabha poll debacle. RJD functionaries even went on to say that his presence or absence will not affect the party. “The workers are already on their job and membership drive is underway. Thus, it doesn’t matter whether Tejashwi is present here or not. Nonetheless, he is busy in dealing with the court cases in New Delhi,” RJD’s Maner MLA Bhai Virendra told reporters in Patna on Tuesday.
However, former union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP has a different stand on the issue. “We were with GA in the Lok Sabha election and will continue to work in favour of Mahagathbandhan. We will follow the ‘dharma’ of alliance,” RSLP chief spokesperson Madhav Anand said.
Anand, who is also national secretary general, further said, “In the present scenario, no party is Bihar is in condition to contest election at its own. So there has to be alliance among like-minded parties,” he said, adding that Congress leader’s statement would weaken GA.
Mukesh Sahni-led VIP, however, preferred to keep mum on the issue. Last week HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi had announced to contest the assembly poll at its own.