‘Friendly fight’ or rift? RJD fields 3 candidates against Congress in Bihar

IN what could be perceived as a show of rift in republic of india axis forward of the Bihar gathering elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has fielded five of its candidates against nominees of its allies, including the Congress, according to the party list released on Monday.The party would end up contesting against the Congress with Ajay Kushwaha in Vaishali, Shivani Shukla from Lalganj and Rajnish Bharti in Kahalgaon, and Arun Shah against former state minister Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insan Party in Tarapur and Gaura Boram.Also read: Bihar assembly elections: RJD announces names of 143 contenders | Full list of candidatesHowever, speculation of a full-blown face-off between the allies were already rife amid rumours of RJD fielding a candidate in Kutumba, which is currently held by state Congress president Rajesh Kumar Ram. Nonetheless, stage seems to be set for a “friendly” contest between the alliance partners who seem to be caught up in a stalemate over seat-sharing.Also read: RJD releases list of 143 candidates for Bihar elections, fields Tejashwi Yadav from RaghopurThe date to file nominations for the second phase of polls in Bihar's 122 of the 243 assembly constituencies nears, the opposition bloc is yet to finalise a concrete seat-sharing plan.Fault in the coalitionThe cracks within the Grand Alliance (also called the Mahagathbandhan) are visible as Bihar's Congress chief Rajesh Ram accused RJD's Tejashwi Yadav of “shifting his stance” and “sabotaging” the alliance.“He entered the AICC meeting with KC Venugopal as a cooperative ally. Now, his actions suggest he is working against the agreement,” Ram said, as reported by Hindustan Times earlier. Ram also accused Tejashwi Yadav of undermining Dalit representation within the coalition.Without reacting to Ram's remarks directly, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said that the party high command is “closely monitoring developments” and that the concerns within the coalition will be addressed.Tiwari also said that Congress must understand that RJD mainly contests only in Bihar and won't ask for seats in states such as Karnataka and Rajasthan. "Such situations emerge when there is a coalition, but it must be understood that RJD contests elections only in Bihar and a few seats in Jharkhand. We are not going to demand seats in Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh from Congress. They must understand the ground realities. There is still time. All the top leaders of the Mahagathbandhan parties would sit together to discuss and resolve this issue," Tiwari said on Sunday, reported news agency ANI.