The 2019 Lok Sabha polls is set to witness the two prominent regional parties of Bihar, Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), fight their toughest electoral battle. In this struggle, both want their senior electoral partners BJP and Congress, to play second fiddle in certain areas where they feel they have better chances of winning.

The strategy is clearly visible in Seemanchal and Kosi regions, where both RJD and JD (U) have decided to contest larger number of seats, than their primary alliance partners. The Seemancal region comprises Katihar, Kishanganj, Araria and Purnia Lok Sabha constituencies, while the Kosi region comprises Madhepura and Supaul constituencies.

JD (U) has successfully outperformed its senior electoral partner, forcing it to accept just one out of the six seats in these two divisions. The seat-sharing in Grand Alliance (GA) is still in a fluid stage, but reports emanating out of the meeting reveal that the RJD has demanded at least four of the six seats in the two divisions.

“By allowing the JD (U) to contest five out of the six seats in the two divisions, the BJP has adversely compromised with the morale of its workers and leaders there. This is humiliating for all of us in BJP. The party had fielded its candidates on all six LS seats in 2014,” a senior BJP leader said.

“You can’t stigmatise a student just for one failure,” the BJP leader said, pointing out that BJP had won three out of six LS constituencies in the region in 2004 and 2009.

Vijay Khemka, BJP MLA from Purnia sadar assembly constituency rejected the report that seat allocation in these two divisions has demoralised the party. “Our main focus is on winning the seats and we are on the right track,” Khemka said.

The situation is similar for Congress in these two regions. RJD is adamant to field its candidates on at least four seats, leaving two for Congress.

“RJD wants Congress to field its candidates only on two LS constituencies of Purnia and Kishanganj,” party workers said.

Barari (Katihar) RJD MLA Neeraj Kumar Yadav said, “RJD has much broader base in these two divisions and allotting more seats to Congress or other alliance partners will prove to be disastrous for both the Grand Alliance (GA) in general and RJD in particular.”

There are reports that RJD wants Katihar MP Tariq Anwar to contest from Kishanganj. RJD wants to field a strong candidate from its own party in Katihar to ensure defeat of the rival JD (U) candidate.

RJD is also not keen on Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav getting a ticket from the GA. “RJD wants to field its candidate on Supaul LS seat, where sitting Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of Pappu Yadav looks all set to contest,” an RJD leader said.

But the recharged Congress is not ready to buckle much as traditional Congress voters in the state have shown signs of returning to its fold. “Congress is a national party with a strong base. We can’t afford to allow the opportunity to reclaim our lost ground slip away so easily. ” Bihar Congress party spokesperson B K Thakur said, hoping that RJD understands that.

In a changed political scenario where the national parties seem to back them strongly, RJD and JD (U) see greener pastures for themselves in the Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 LS polls, Congress and RJD had clinched two seats each while one each had gone in favour of NCP and JD(U) in the region. BJP had suffered humiliating defeat in these two divisions and failed to open its account in the region, despite the strong Modi wave.

First Published: Mar 19, 2019 12:56 IST