Bihar Elections: ‘Dead Seats’ May Heat Up Congress-RJD Seat-Sharing Talks

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Last Updated:March 28, 2025, 15:35 IST

News18 India's investigation of the 70 seats the Congress contested the past clip reveals that astatine slightest 35 of them were historically weak, for some the Congress and RJD

RJD person Tejashwi Yadav (left) and Congress's Rahul Gandhi. (PTI File)

The Congress has made it wide that it volition contention the Bihar elections successful alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but a quality implicit “dead seats", which person ne'er been won, betwixt the 2 parties seems inevitable.

Congress leaders judge that, successful the past election, they were allocated seats, which neither the Congress nor the RJD had won for decades. This time, the Congress wants a respectful confederation statement with winnable seats, adjacent arsenic the RJD argues that triumph is imaginable adjacent connected dormant seats.

News18 India’s investigation of the 70 seats the Congress contested the past clip reveals that astatine slightest 35 of them were historically weak, for some the Congress and RJD.

THE BREAK-UP

In the 2015 elections, the Congress contested 41 seats arsenic portion of the Grand Alliance and won 27. However, successful the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress contested 70 seats and won 19, but its onslaught complaint was worse than that of RJD and Left parties.

For example, successful the past election, the Congress was fixed 9 seats successful West Champaran and East Champaran districts, of which 7 had been NDA strongholds for years. These see Valmikinagar, Ramnagar, Bagaha, Nautan, Chanpatia, Raxaul, and Govindganj.

Similarly, the Congress was fixed 4 seats successful Patna district, but 3 of them were dormant seats — Barh, Bankipur, and Patna Sahib.

In Nalanda district, the Congress received 3 assembly seats — Rajgir, Nalanda, and Harnaut. All 3 were dormant seats. Rajgir has not been won by the Congress since 1962, Harnaut since 1977, and Nalanda since 1995.

LEADERSPEAK

Congress elder person and MP from Bihar Tariq Anwar says, “Our effort volition beryllium to set the seats done communal agreement. Everyone volition beryllium fixed seats wherever they person influence. If we springiness a spot wherever the Congress has power to different party, it volition beryllium a disadvantage. The enactment that has power successful a peculiar country volition beryllium fixed the spot there."

However, RJD person and MP Sudhakar Singh argued that seats should beryllium allocated based connected winnability and that the Congress, similar RJD, tin besides decision the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) successful pugnacious seats. He cites the illustration of however RJD won the Buxar Lok Sabha spot successful 2024, a BJP stronghold.

Talking to News18 India exclusively, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Kumar said that the Congress is not a “B Team" successful the alliance and deserves a just stock of seats.

Independent MP from Bihar, Pappu Yadav, who has been actively campaigning for Congress successful assorted authorities elections, believes that if the Congress contests alone, it could triumph astir 40 seats.

Congress sources corroborate that the contented of dormant seats has been raised successful each enactment gathering from Bihar to Delhi, making it 1 of the astir captious topics successful the seat-sharing talks.

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First Published:

March 28, 2025, 15:32 IST

News elections Bihar Elections: ‘Dead Seats’ May Heat Up Congress-RJD Seat-Sharing Talks