The Assembly elections in Bihar are just a few months away and the Congress is pinning hopes to take advantage of disagreement within the NDA. On 3 July, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi took part in a virtual meeting with the top leaders in Bihar to assess the party’s preparations for upcoming elections. During the meeting, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Singh suggested that things are not well in the NDA and the Congress should take steps to lure the party which is not happy in the NDA. His reference was clearly to the LJP which has recently given signals that it is not comfortable with its current standing in the NDA. After reaching Bihar from Delhi, Akhilesh Singh even went one step further and said that if the LJP joins hands with the Congress in Bihar, they will offer the post of the chief minister to Chirag Paswan.
While confirming this discussion in the meeting, senior Congress leader and party in charge of Bihar, Shakti Singh Gohil, who was also present in the meeting told that though till now no feelers have been sent to the LJP, nothing is impossible in Bihar. While talking to The Daily Guardian, Gohil said, “Bihar is the land of Chanakya and has very vibrant politics. The word impossible doesn’t exist in the dictionary of Bihar politics.”
The reason why Congress is optimistic to have the LJP back to its alliance is the recent development in which the LJP clearly showed its discomfort with CM Nitish Kumar. Recently the LJP sacked its district president for stating that the ruling NDA is intact as it asserted that a final decision on the matter would be taken by its president Chirag Paswan. A statement from the party said, “It believes that no other leader should speak on the alliance as the final decision has been left to Paswan.” This decision has triggered speculations about the future of NDA in Bihar. The main reason for the LJP’s discomfort could be the future seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Sources from the LJP said, “BJP had promised to give seven seats in Lok Sabha and 42 seats in Assembly election to LJP in 2014 when LJP decided to part ways with the Congress and joined the NDA. The BJP kept its promise in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and 2015 Assembly elections. In 2019 LJP was given six Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat. So as per that agreement, BJP is bound to give 42 Assembly seats to LJP.”
At the 2015 assembly elections, the JD(U) was in the opposition camp and the LJP was then the biggest ally of the BJP in the state. But now the situation is different as Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is part of the NDA and he is unlikely to surrender lion’s share in the potential seat-sharing formula. So now the LJP leadership feels that the onus to maintain the unity of NDA is on BJP.