A joint press conference was held by the Grand Alliance on Thursday (October 23, 2025) at Maurya Hotel in Patna regarding the Bihar Assembly elections (2025). On this occasion, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, Bihar State President of Congress Rajesh Ram, VIP chief Mukesh Sahni, CPIM’s Dipankar Bhattacharya and leaders of other allies were present. During this time it was publicly announced that Tejashwi Yadav would be the CM face of the Grand Alliance. Ashok Gehlot has made this announcement.

Will not leave until broken: Sahni

On this occasion, VIP chief Mukesh Sahni said that lakhs of workers were waiting for this time. He accused BJP of poaching and buying its MLAs. He said that he will not leave the BJP until it is broken. That time has come. Now we will form the government by staying firmly with the Grand Alliance. The grand alliance is strong.

#WATCH Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has been declared the chief ministerial candidate of the grand alliance for the Bihar assembly elections.

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said, “…we all have decided that Tejashwi Yadav will be the next Chief Minister in this election… pic.twitter.com/l3s2y9lFic

— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) October 23, 2025

Grand alliance candidates face each other on 13 seats

In fact, before this no joint press conference was held regarding seat distribution in the Grand Alliance. There was a continuous tense situation. For the first time today (Thursday), a joint press conference has been held regarding Bihar elections. The biggest thing is that the candidates of the Grand Alliance are face to face on about 13 seats.

There is a situation of tension in the Grand Alliance, especially between Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress. In view of this situation, senior Congress observer Ashok Gehlot had also met Lalu-Tejashwi last Wednesday.

Controversy over only Tejashwi’s picture on the poster

On the other hand, there is controversy regarding the poster that has been put up for this press conference because only Tejashwi Yadav’s photo is on it. There is no picture of any leader other than Tejashwi Yadav. It is only a symbol of other allies. On this, BJP leader Amit Malviya wrote on Twitter, “The huge infighting in the Grand Alliance has now become public. First, Rahul Gandhi did not accept Tejashwi as his face, now Tejashwi has made Rahul Gandhi disappear from the poster. This poster itself is an announcement of the breakup of the Grand Alliance.”

MP Pappu Yadav has also expressed objection over the absence of photographs of other leaders on the poster. Pappu Yadav raised the question whether there is any justification without Rahul Gandhi on the poster? Said that there should be photographs of all those who are in the alliance. When there was no picture, the MP said that its message was wrong.

Also read- RJD leader opened front against his own party’s candidate, made big demand from Tejashwi Yadav

The last date of nomination for the second phase of Bihar Assembly elections has passed, but no final decision has been taken on the distribution of seats in the Grand Alliance (INDIA Block). Differences between Congress, RJD (RJD), Left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) are coming to the fore. Its effect is that in the upcoming elections only Grand Alliance candidates will fight face to face on at least 11 seats, which is now being called a ‘friendly fight’.

‘Saathi’ will face each other on 11 seats

The seats where there is a possibility of conflict within the Grand Alliance include Narkatiaganj, Vaishali, Raja Pakar (SC), Bachhwara, Bihasharif, Rosra, Lalganj, Tarapur, Kahalgaon, Champur and Pipra. On these seats, Congress vs RJD or Congress vs Left party candidates will be face to face.

Narkatiaganj: Congress’s Shashwat Kedar Pandey vs RJD’s Deepak Yadav

Bachhwara: Congress’s Prakash Das vs CPI’s Avadhesh Rai

Vaishali: Sanjeev Singh of Congress vs Ajay Kushwaha of RJD

This kind of ‘friendly fight’ can prove to be a new challenge for both the voters and the party.

Controversy over seat sharing in Grand Alliance

The list of candidates so far in 243 assembly seats of Bihar is as follows:

RJD: 143 candidates, Congress: 60 candidates, CPI: 9 candidates, CPI(M): 4 candidates. CPI(ML) Liberation: 20 candidates, VIP: 15 candidates.

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said that since RJD is the largest party in the state, it has the right to contest elections on maximum seats. He appealed to the allies to withdraw their candidates from those seats where RJD has already fielded candidates.

Congress spokesperson Asit Tiwari said that his party has always followed the coalition dharma. He expressed hope that ‘this dispute will be resolved in a day or two.’ He also said that RJD and Left parties released the list of their candidates after the Congress list was declared.

NDA’s taunt on discord in opposition
Meanwhile, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan said that he has never seen such a big alliance on the verge of breaking. He said, ‘There is no such thing as ‘friendly fight’ in elections. If the Grand Alliance thinks that it will get benefit by fielding multiple candidates from the same seat, then they are delusional. They even gave us walkover on many seats.

election dates
Bihar assembly elections will be held in two phases – 6 and 11 November. The results will be announced on 14 November. Although the last date of nomination has passed, there is still no consensus on seat sharing in the grand alliance, and on many seats the partners will become rivals.

As Bihar Assembly elections are approaching, confusion and competition regarding seats within the Grand Alliance is increasing. The allies are facing each other in many assembly constituencies, due to which questions are being raised on the unity of the alliance.

Efforts may have been made to coordinate seats between RJD, Congress, Left parties and VIP, but the equations at the ground level are telling a different story. Friendly competition has developed at many places, where the constituent parties of the Grand Alliance are directly challenging each other.

The most interesting contest will take place on these 6 seats.

The most interesting situation has arisen in seats like Warisaliganj, Narkatiaganj, Kahalgaon, Sultanganj, Vaishali and Sikandra. Both RJD and Congress have fielded their candidates in these areas. For example, from Warisaliganj, RJD has fielded Anita Devi Mahato, while Congress has given ticket to Satish Kumar. Similarly, in Narkatiaganj, Deepak Yadav of RJD will face Shashwat Kedar Pandey of Congress.

RJD’s Rajneesh Bharti and Congress’s Praveen Singh Kushwaha are face to face in Kahalgaon. In Sultanganj too, an interesting contest will be seen between Chandan Sinha (RJD) and Lalan Kumar (Congress). There will be a direct contest between RJD’s Ajay Kushwaha and Congress’s E. Sanjeev Singh on Vaishali seat. On Sikandra seat, experienced leaders of both the parties, Uday Narayan Choudhary of RJD and Vinod Choudhary of Congress are fighting the electoral battle with each other.

Direct confrontation between Congress and Left parties at many places

Within the Grand Alliance, there is a situation of direct competition between Congress and Left parties at many places. Both Congress and CPI have fielded candidates on seats like Bachhwara, Biharsharif, Karghar and Rajapakar. Congress’s Garib Das will face CPI’s Awadhesh Rai from Bachhwara, while Shiv Kumar Yadav (Congress) and Omair Khan (CPI) are facing each other in Biharsharif. Santosh Mishra of Congress will face Mahendra Gupta of CPI on Karghar seat. Whereas in Rajapakar seat, Pratima Das from Congress and Mohit Paswan from CPI are in the fray.

Clash between RJD and VIP on these two seats

Apart from this, a situation of conflict has also arisen between RJD and VIP party. In Babubarhi, RJD’s Arun Kushwaha will face VIP’s Bindu Gulab Yadav, while in Chainpur seat, VIP’s Balgovind Bind is in the fray against RJD’s Braj Kishore Singh.

Political analysts believe that competition within the grand alliance on these seats can harm the opposition alliance. While BJP and JDU have maintained tight coordination in candidate selection, this “friendly fight” of the Grand Alliance may prove to be an advantage for the ruling NDA on many seats.

After the nominations for the first and second phase of Bihar Assembly elections, it has now become clear that this time the mathematics of seat distribution in both the major alliances, NDA and Grand Alliance, has completely changed. Interestingly, the seats of all the constituent parties of NDA have decreased compared to the last election, while the Left parties and VIP party in the grand alliance have gained this time.

In the last assembly elections, NDA had given 115 seats to JDU and 110 seats to BJP, but this time both the major parties have to contest equally on 101-101 seats. That means JDU’s 14 seats and BJP’s 9 seats have decreased. To accommodate allies, BJP-JDU have left a total of 23 seats. The situation of other constituent parties of NDA is also not any better. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party ‘Hum’ had got seven seats last time, which has reduced to six this time.

Who got how many seats and who will contest from where?

Whereas Upendra Kushwaha’s party ‘RLMO’ (formerly RLSP) has got six seats in NDA. Last time, he separated from both the NDA and the Grand Alliance and formed the Grand Democratic Secular Front, in which he got a chance to contest elections on 104 seats. This time Chirag Paswan’s party Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has also returned to NDA. Last time, after separating from NDA, LJP (RA) had fielded candidates on 134 seats, whereas now after joining the alliance, it has got 29 seats.

Congress sacrificed nine seats in the Grand Alliance

On the other hand, the period of fight for seats and compromise in the Grand Alliance also lasted for a long time. According to the final list, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has got 143 seats this time, which is only one less than last time. RJD has released the list of its candidates. This time Congress has been given 61 seats, whereas last time it had contested on 70 seats. That means Congress has sacrificed the maximum of nine seats in the Grand Alliance.

The position of left parties in the elections is better than before.

The situation of the left parties has become better this time than before. In 2020, a total of 29 seats were given to the Left parties (CPI-ML, CPI and CPM) by the Grand Alliance. But this time this number has increased to 35. CPI-ML is contesting on 20 seats instead of 19, CPI on nine seats instead of six and CPM on six seats instead of four.

Inflow of new parties in both the alliances

This time, ‘Vikassheel Insaan Party’ (VIP) has also joined the Grand Alliance, which earlier had got 11 seats from the NDA, whereas now in the Grand Alliance it has got the opportunity to contest elections on 15 seats.

The interesting thing is that this time there has been an influx of new parties in both the alliances. While NDA has made space for LJP (RA), the Grand Alliance has taken VIPs along. However, dissatisfaction and mutual conflict over seat distribution is being seen in both the alliances. Overall, in this election season of Bihar, while the Left parties and VIPs have gained in share, the NDA has suffered losses in the equation of seats. Now it will be interesting to see in whose favor this mathematics works in the election results – ‘Grand Alliance or NDA’.

There has been no consensus regarding seat sharing within the Grand Alliance in Bihar. After analyzing the list of candidates, it has become clear that there will be direct contest on 11 seats within the alliance. This situation is exposing the lack of coordination and internal differences among the opposition parties. Just two weeks before the first phase of elections, this disagreement has become a new point of attack for NDA and Chirag Paswan.

There will be a direct fight between RJD and Congress on 6 seats, while there will be a direct fight between CPI and Congress on 4 seats. At the same time, there will be a contest between Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and RJD on one seat, Chainpur.

On Monday, RJD released the list of its 143 candidates. This list also includes those 6 seats where Congress has already declared its candidates. These seats are- Vaishali, Sikandra, Kahalgaon, Sultanganj, Narkatiaganj and Versaliganj. Now all eyes are on October 23, which is the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the second phase. By then the picture will be clear whether there is any agreement in the opposition camp or not.

Shahnawaz Hussain targeted the Grand Alliance

BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, targeting the ‘Grand Alliance’, said that RJD has released its list of candidates, from which it has become clear that no norms have been followed in the ticket distribution.

He said, “The grand alliance has completely become a victim of the ‘great split’. Looking at the RJD list, it is clear that they have ignored their own workers and have distributed tickets to anyone. There is no candidate in this list who can win.”

#WATCH Delhi: On ‘Mahagathbandhan,’ BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain says, “RJD has released its list… This makes it clear that RJD has not followed any criteria in ticket distribution. ‘Mahagathbandhan Puri has become a victim of Mahaphoot,’ and their list… pic.twitter.com/scvrs4PRpM

— ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2025

Political experts say that these circumstances have raised questions on the unity and coordination of the opposition. Despite long-running meetings and secret discussions, the Grand Alliance has not yet been able to formally declare the seat distribution. At the same time, another interesting contest will be seen on Mahua seat. Here RJD has made Mukesh Roshan its candidate, who will contest against Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. Tej Pratap was expelled from RJD earlier this year, after which he formed his new party Janashakti Janata Dal. This family dispute is now adding a new twist to the politics of Bihar.

Political analysts believe that such internal contests can lead to division of opposition votes, due to which the BJP-led NDA can gain advantage on many seats.

What did Chirag Paswan say about the grand alliance?

LJP (Ram Vilas) President Chirag Paswan also targeted the Grand Alliance on Monday. He said, “I have never seen such an election in which such a big alliance is on the verge of breaking. It is one thing to have differences of opinion on the selection of seats, but here there is no consensus on the number of seats itself.”

Chirag Paswan’s party is contesting elections on 29 seats this time. Taking a dig at the state of the grand alliance, he said that this “friendly fight” going on within the opposition is actually proving to be a walkover for the NDA. Chirag Paswan said, “There is nothing that can be called a friendly competition. Either you are a friend or a rival. If you are fielding candidates against each other and targeting leaders, then it will definitely affect the remaining seats.”

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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)’s displeasure for India Alliance before Bihar Assembly elections has given new political signals. Jharkhand government minister and Giridih MLA Sudivya Kumar Sonu made it clear in the press conference that JMM will not participate in the Bihar assembly elections.

Also, it will not campaign in favor of any candidate of the Grand Alliance. Now it remains to be seen whether the alliance of India Alliance will break in Jharkhand also.

JMM decided not to contest elections in Bihar

Sudivya Kumar said that this decision of the party was taken due to Congress and RJD not following the coalition dharma. He said that JMM was kept entangled in seat distribution and other arrangements in Bihar and at the last moment some such circumstances arose due to which JMM decided not to contest elections in Bihar. The minister alleged that just as Congress and RJD were given support and seats in Jharkhand while playing the role of elder brothers, similarly injustice was done to JMM in Bihar.

Congress did not take any clear stand in favor of JMM

Sudivya Kumar further said that Congress did not take any clear stand in favor of JMM nor did it take any initiative for mediation. For this reason, JMM took the step of not contesting elections in Bihar. He clarified that both RJD and Congress are responsible in this matter.

On October 18, JMM led by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had also announced to contest elections independently in Bihar. The party said that it will not be a part of any alliance and will field its candidates only from six assembly seats Chakai, Dhamdaha, Katoria, Manihari, Jamui and Peerpainti. JMM General Secretary Supremo Bhattacharya said that the party’s support base is continuously increasing in these border seats and their main focus will be to raise the issues of tribals and deprived classes prominently.

BJP took a dig at this decision of JMM

BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shah Dev said that JMM has set a new example of shamelessness by changing its stand in the last one week. First he ran away from Bengal, now he ran away from Bihar also. The whole incident reminds of ‘Bhaag JMM Bhaag’.

Analysts believe that JMM’s displeasure and dissatisfaction over seat distribution in Bihar can become a challenge for India Alliance in Jharkhand. The impact of this step will be seen not only in Bihar elections but also on the political situation of the alliance in Jharkhand. If there is no balance in the alliance then the possibility of India Alliance breaking in Jharkhand may also increase.

The ongoing tussle for seats in the grand alliance between Bihar Assembly elections 2025 is now coming to the fore. Independent MP from Purnia, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav gave a strong message to the top leaders of the Grand Alliance and said that if this alliance has to be saved, then old allies like Congress and JMM will have to be respected.

Pappu Yadav said that Congress has never been a party that breaks alliances. She always remains within limits and tolerates insults. But given the situation today, it seems that some big force is trying to break our alliance. Everything will become clear after tomorrow.

#WATCH Patna, Bihar: On the distribution of seats in the Grand Alliance, Independent MP from Purnia Pappu Yadav said, “…Congress is not breaking its alliance, it is keeping it. There has been no ‘friendly fight’ from the Congress side yet… Everything will be revealed after tomorrow… I feel that our alliance… pic.twitter.com/tWbiSneINM

— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) October 19, 2025

Ignoring JMM is a wrong decision – Pappu Yadav

Pappu Yadav raised questions on RJD leadership after Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) announced its candidates for 6 seats in Bihar Assembly elections. He said that there should have been a respectable alliance with JMM on 3-4 seats. I would appeal to Lalu Yadav to leave this tradition of ignoring his allies. Learn something from others and add JMM back into the alliance.

He further said that our leaders want to strengthen the coalition religion, but if any leader’s ideas are attacked then we will not remain silent. Dignity and transparency are necessary even within the alliance.

Lalu Yadav should leave his old habit – Pappu Yadav

Pappu Yadav gave direct advice to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He said that what Lalu ji is doing by fielding candidates against his own allies is wrong. This is their old habit, which needs to be left now. The public is watching everything and now politics is going to change in Bihar.

Pappu Yadav said – the public is with us

He claimed that the public is with him and an atmosphere of change is being created in the coming elections. People are thinking beyond the boundaries of caste and alliance. People want development, not armchair politics.

The tussle continues in the Grand Alliance

Meanwhile, agreement could not be reached between Congress and RJD on many seats. Dissatisfaction in the alliance has also increased with JMM’s announcement of contesting the elections alone. In such a situation, this statement of Pappu Yadav further exposes the internal disagreements of the Grand Alliance.

Regarding Bihar assembly elections, National General Secretary of CPI (ML), an important party associated with the leftist camp, Dipankar Bhattacharya has given a big statement on seat sharing and unity of the alliance. He admitted that this time the alliance is bigger than before, due to which delay in seat coordination and some disagreements were natural.

Dipankar Bhattacharya said that this time there was a desire to include Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in the alliance. Due to this, all the parties had to sacrifice some of their seats. He told that due to this process there was some delay in ticket distribution and complete unity could not be achieved immediately on some seats.

There should be complete unity in every assembly constituency

Dipankar Bhattacharya also clarified that it has been decided by the alliance that there will be no ‘friendly fight’ on any seat. He said that we have made it clear that there should be complete unity in every assembly constituency. Wherever there is some confusion, that too will be resolved by the last date of withdrawal of nominations.

#WATCH Patna, Bihar | CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya says, “It’s a bigger coalition this time. The VIP party (Vikassheel Insaan Party) wanted to accommodate this new party. And that meant that everybody had to sacrifice a few seats. So the whole thing got a bit delayed.… pic.twitter.com/LRuyLY1KVp

— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2025

Left parties performed their responsibilities with full honesty

The CPI(ML) leader claimed that the Left parties have played their part honestly and have given top priority to strengthening the alliance. He said that our aim is not to win or lose on any one seat, but to stop the fascist forces in entire Bihar and strengthen the voice of the people.

Dipankar Bhattacharya also said that even though seat distribution may have taken time, the unity of the India alliance will be even stronger at the time of elections. He expressed hope that by the time the process of withdrawal of nominations is completed, the alliance’s common candidate on every seat will become clear and opposition unity will emerge in a stronger form than before.

Our goal is not power, but change – Bhattacharya

Dipankar Bhattacharya finally said that our goal is not power but change. The expectations of the people in Bihar are high and we will unite and try to live up to them.

Political analysts believe that this statement of CPI(ML) is not only an attempt to calm the dissatisfaction related to seat sharing, but also gives a message that the Left parties still want to maintain balance and cooperation within the alliance.

Now only two days are left for the nomination process to end for the second and final phase of Bihar Assembly elections, but the internal tussle of the opposition alliance ‘India’ is not showing any sign of stopping.

On Saturday (October 18), another shock came in the ongoing confusion regarding seat sharing when Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) separated from the alliance and announced to contest the elections alone in Bihar. The party has announced to field candidates on six seats.

Congress has announced 54 candidates so far

Here, the main party of the alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has declared its candidates on many seats, including some areas where its allies are already contenders. Still, the final list of RJD has not been released yet. Congress has announced 54 candidates so far. The new list released late Saturday evening includes seats like Kishanganj, Kasba, Purnia and Gaya Nagar.

Who got the ticket from where?

From Kishanganj, Congress has given ticket to Kamrul Hoda, who was first in AIMIM and later in RJD. Similarly, Irfan Alam has been fielded from Kasba seat. It is being told that due to the displeasure of Purnia MP Pappu Yadav, Irfan got the chance in place of Afaq Alam. Jitendra Yadav has been given ticket from Purnia and Mahendra Srivastava from Gaya Nagar.

Congress will contest elections on fewer seats than in 2020

According to sources, this time Congress will contest elections on fewer seats than in 2020. However, there was huge dissatisfaction in the party regarding ticket distribution. Many angry leaders held a press conference in Patna and accused AICC in-charge Krishna Allavaru of ‘selling tickets’.

At present, two allies are facing each other on at least eight seats in the alliance, out of which a direct contest is possible between Congress and RJD on three seats. Kutumba, the seat of Congress state president Rajesh Ram, is also said to be embroiled in the same dispute.

The picture will be clear by the last date of nomination

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary has claimed that the agreement is almost certain, the picture will be clear by the last date of withdrawal of nominations. On the other hand, everything is not smooth in NDA also. JD(U) gave ticket to Sabir Ali from Amour seat at the last moment, whereas earlier the name of Saba Zafar was fixed. On the other hand, nomination of LJP (Ram Vilas) candidate Seema Singh on Marhaura seat was cancelled, due to which RJD candidate Jitendra Rai is likely to get the lead. As the elections are coming closer, the politics of alliances is getting more complicated and the picture still remains blurry for the voters.

The final round of discussions on seat sharing in the Grand Alliance for the Bihar Assembly elections 2025 is going on. According to sources, this time Congress can field its candidates on 60 seats in the state. The party has completed internal brainstorming on these seats and the grand alliance is likely to be formally announced today.

According to media reports, almost a consensus has been reached regarding seat sharing in the Grand Alliance between RJD, Congress and Left parties. Keeping in mind the strength of its organization, old vote base and local equations, Congress has selected those seats where the party is expected to perform better. Party sources say that the decision on these seats has been taken on the basis of survey report and opinion of workers.

List of possible seats of Congress

The 60 seats on which Congress can field candidates include – Wazirganj, Warisaliganj, Supaul, Barbigha, Forbesganj, Baniyapur, Bahadurganj, Motihari, Kishanganj, Purnia, Kasba, Pranpur, Kadwa, Kodha, Araria, Bihariganj, Bhagalpur, Sonbarsa, Jamalpur, Kusheshwarsthan, Bikram, Benipur, Hisua, Jale, Maharajganj, Kuchaykot, Buxar, Vaishali, Karghar, Manihari, Rosra, Rajpur, Begusarai, Chenari, Beldaur, Kutumba, Kahalgaon, Muzaffarpur, Sultanganj, Khagaria, Amarpur, Aurangabad, Lakhisarai, Valmiki Nagar, Barbigha, Ramnagar, Rajgir, Narkatiaganj, Barh, Chanpatia, Bankipur, Bettiah, Patna Sahib, Govindganj, gone Town, Riga, Tekari and Benipatti etc. Right now Congress is churning on two seats. As soon as it is finalized, their names will also be released.

Congress’s focus on ‘winning seats’

According to Congress sources, this time the party is following the principle of ‘quality over quantity’. This means that strong contenders will be fielded on fewer seats. Congress will especially focus on the seats of North and East Bihar, where the traditional vote bank is still present.

Intensification of movement before announcement in Bihar

Before the formal announcement of seat sharing in the Grand Alliance, a series of meetings are going on at the state headquarters of Congress and the party office in Delhi. It is believed that RJD and Congress can hold a joint press conference by this evening.

In this phase of Bihar elections, these seats for Congress will prove to be a test of both its credibility and organization. Now the focus is on what new political message the party gives by selecting its candidates.