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New Delhi, October 19 (IANS) The alliance of opposition parties in Bihar is ready to see political competition among its own candidates if the constituents remain adamant.
It is being told that for the second phase of the assembly elections to be held in November, there is a possibility of direct competition between the allies on more than a dozen seats, while the nomination will continue for one more day.
From parliamentary elections to assembly elections, from India Bloc to Grand Alliance, several attempts by political parties opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to unite have not been successful.
Overall, as the electoral landscape evolves and alliances change, the dynamics of such ‘friendly’ contests and the associated strategic moves continue to shape the political landscape.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), part of the India Bloc, is said to have failed to convince its allies to join hands in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Now JMM has decided to contest the elections alone and field candidates on six seats in Bihar.
Calling it a “betrayal”, JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya has claimed that once the party wins, it will ensure that the next government in Bihar is not formed without their consent.
The disappointing election result may impact the Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand, where Bhattacharya reminded the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) that it has a minister in its cabinet.
JMM leader said, there should be mutual respect.
RJD’s de facto chief Tejashwi Yadav has evolved into the main arbiter for seat-sharing as he leads the single largest party in the opposition faction.
Even in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the alliance in Jharkhand saw a split when the Communist Party of India (CPI) broke its ties with the Bharat Bloc, stating its intention to contest eight of the 14 Lok Sabha seats.
It is noteworthy that CPI does not have a single Lok Sabha seat from the state.
The India faction has completely disintegrated in the neighboring state of West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) has refused to accept allies in the parliamentary or assembly elections.
TMC had also challenged the then state Congress chief and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in his stronghold Berhampur.
The contest sent TMC candidate and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan to the Lok Sabha, with the support of a large number of minority voters.
Incidentally, recently, the Congress contests elections in the state in alliance with its one-time rival Left parties.
In the south, the India Bloc’s allies in Kerala fielded candidates from two key Lok Sabha seats traditionally held by the Congress.
Even before the Congress re-nominated Rahul Gandhi, the CPI had declared Annie Raja, a prominent leader and member of its national executive, as its candidate from the Wayanad constituency.
In Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency, the Left alliance nominated Panniyan Raveendran to challenge Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor.
However, BJP’s Rajeev Chandrashekhar finished second behind Tharoor by nearly 16,000 votes, while Raveendran came third with a margin of over 94,000 votes against the BJP candidate.
Again, in Alappuzha, KC Venugopal regained the seat for the Congress by defeating AM Arif of the Communist Party of India by over 63,000 votes.
This time, the opposition’s political soup may get spoiled due to not much ‘two-fight-fight’ in Bihar Assembly elections.
–IANS
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