Bihar: INDIA Bloc leaders meet at Tejashwi’s house

Patna: With announcement of dates for the Bihar Assembly polls expected soon, leaders of the INDIA Bloc on Sunday went into a huddle and decided to make public their seat-sharing formula “within a couple of days”.

A meeting of the multi-party coalition, which continued till late in the evening, was held at the residence of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who heads the INDIA Bloc’s coordination committee for the upcoming polls.

Emerging from the meeting, Vikassheel Insan Party president Mukesh Sahni told reporters that “all things have been finalised”.

“But, please excuse me from divulging the details. We shall announce everything at a press conference... the day after tomorrow,” he said.

Sahni had joined the coalition, which includes Congress and three Left parties, in the thick of the Lok Sabha polls last year, after having burnt his bridges with the ruling BJP-led NDA, which had rewarded him with a ministerial berth in 2020 despite having lost his own seat in the Assembly elections.

RJD national general secretary Alok Mehta was, however, more guarded in his response.

Faced with a barrage of questions on seat-sharing and inclusion of new allies like Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party headed by former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s JMM, Mehta said, “Most things have been discussed. A few issues remain to be sorted out. But, all would be final in two days and we will announce everything at a press conference”.

Earlier, on their way to Yadav’s residence, state Congress president Rajesh Kumar and AICC in-charge for the state Krishna Allavaru had said that “seat-sharing” and “prospective candidates” were the major issues to be taken up at the meeting.

A team of the Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, on Sunday concluded its two-day tour of the state, where he received feedback from representatives of political parties and discussed poll preparedness with officials.

At a press conference, Kumar also made it clear that the election process will be completed before November 22, when the term of the current Assembly ends.