Cong wants to contest 6 to 7 seats in Bihar MLC elections

Patna, Jan 12 (IANS) Amid the tough stand of the RJD, the Congress party wants to contest 6 to 7 seats in the MLC polls in Bihar.

Congress state president Madan Mohan Jha told IANS that the party had contested 4 seats last time. Now, we are expecting at least two to three more seats in the 2022 MLC elections.

“I had a meeting with Tejashwi Yadav a few weeks ago on this issue though the discussions on particular candidates did not take place that time. Then I got infected with Covid and was in home isolation. Hence, the names of candidates were not discussed after that,” Jha told IANS.

“The Congress party has strong candidates for the MLC election. We will give tickets to only those candidates with the ability to win,” Jha said.

“I want an official meeting with RJD to discuss the seat sharing formula for MLC election 2022. We are expecting an official meeting with RJD. The outcome of the meeting will then be discussed by our central leadership and the decisions of party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will be final from our side,” Jha said.

Meanwhile, the RJD said that the Congress should give the list of candidates.

“The Congress party should provide the names of its candidates. The RJD will evaluate their strength before offering them seats. Tickets of MLC election are not a “Prasad of Satyanarayan Bhagwan” (Lord Vishnu) which could be given to anyone. If any candidate of the Congress party has potential, the RJD may consider it,” said Mritunjay Tiwari, national spokesperson of the RJD.

The political parties of Bihar have started working on the equations with alliance partners for the 24 seats of the MLC poll.

The election commission has cleared the decks after the completion of the Panchayat elections on December 15.

According to a top RJD official, Tejashwi Yadav knew that the Congress party had lost ground in Bihar. It was proven in the Bihar by-elections when its candidates could not even save their deposits.

“Tejashwi Yadav and the party president had taken a tough stand at that time and they will repeat the same in the MLC elections for 24 seats as well. Tejashwi Yadav has already sent the probable candidates to establish contact with the elected members of Panchayats and urban local bodies,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

He added that the names of the candidates will be shortlisted by Tejashwi Yadav.

Out of the 24, 13 of the BJP, 8 of the JDU, 2 of the RJD and 1 of the Congress are sitting MLCs at present.

These MLCs were elected after the 2015 assembly election in Bihar. At that time the RJD, JDU and the Congress were part of the Mahagathbandhan. Now, the JDU has separated from the Mahagathbandhan, hence the RJD wants to contest on all 24 seats.

The RJD had 81 seats in the 2015 assembly election and the Congress had 27 seats. Now, in the 2020 assembly election, the RJD has 75 MLAs and the Congress has 19 MLAs.

–IANS

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