It seems all is in the family, and friends, for the Congress party in Bihar. Already miffed with the measly nine seats granted to it as part of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar, the ticket distribution trends, which overwhelmingly favour party leaders’ kinfolk or close associates, has further infuriated the State leadership. Senior Congress leaders rued the “pitiable” condition of the party and lamented that a return to its old glory days seems “not merely difficult but impossible”.
Under the Opposition mahagathbandhan seat distribution arrangement, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) got the lion’s share of the 40 seats in Bihar. With a total of 23 seats going to the RJD candidates, the Congress received a mere nine seats, leaving five seats for the Left parties and three for new entrant Mukesh Sahani’s Vikasheel Insaan Party.
Earlier, the Congress had announced the names of three party leaders Tariq Anwar from Katihar, sitting MP from Kishanganj Mohd. Jawed, and Ajit Sharma as candidates. State Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Tuesday claimed that all three candidates are “going to win” in the second phase of the election on April 26. On April 22, the Congress announced the names of candidates for five more seats - Samastipur, Sasaram, Muzaffarpur, Paschim (west) Champaran, and Maharajganj. Additionally, Tuesday saw the declaration of the candidature of Anshul Abhijit, son of senior party leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, to contest the polls from Patna Sahib seat.
Of the declared seats, the Maharajganj constituency saw Akash Prasad Singh being named as the party’s candidate; his father is State party president Akhilesh Prasad Singh. Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Akhilesh Prasad Singh is considered close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Mr. Akash Prasad Singh had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully from the east Champaran seat from the now defunct Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.
The Congress has fielded Anshul Abhijit, son of senior party leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, from the Patna Sahib seat. The BJP has fielded sitting MP and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the seat as the National Democratic Alliance candidate. Many in the party had expected Mr. Abhijit to be fielded from the Sasaram (reserved) seat, given the legacy of his mother’s candidature from the same seat. “Mr. Anshul’s candidature has made the fight very easy for Mr. Prasad; he is a veteran and will handily win the seat,” a former Congress MLC said while, adding, “What has happened to the party is beyond our comprehension.”
Several senior Congress leaders in the State expressed dissatisfaction that the party has given tickets either to dynasts or to borrowed players at the cost of grassroots party workers.
Instead, the Congress has put forth Manoj Kumar to contest the Sasaram (reserved) seat. Mr. Kumar had unsuccessfully contested the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.
On the Samastipur (reserved) seat, the Congress has preferred to give tickets to Sunny Hazari, son of senior Janata Dala (United) leader and former Deputy Speaker of State Legislative Assembly, Maheshwar Hazari. Mr. Sunny Hazari would be fighting against Sambhavi Choudhary, the daughter of another JD(U) leader and former State Congress president Ashok Choudhary. Ms. Choudhary is the youngest Dalit candidate contesting Lok Sabha election in the State.
The Congress party named Ajay Nishad as the candidate from Muzaffarpur seat. Mr. Nishad had won the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket but switched parties after he was denied a ticket this election season. His defection is seen by Congress leaders as self serving, and his candidature is as detrimental to the rank and file membership of the party. “In the last Lok Sabha election, the Congress had given tickets to borrowed players in Munger and Purnea and lost both seats,” senior Congress leader from Madhubani, Kishore Kumar Jha said.
The Congress has named former Bettiah (East Champaran) MLA Madan Mohan Tiwari as a candidate from West Champaran seat Lok Sabha seat. Mr. Tiwari is seen as a weak candidate on the West Champaran seat, particularly since other senior party leaders were in the race for the seat as well.
Senior leaders in Bihar expressed concern that the “party has not played fair in ticket distribution as the Congress interests were sacrificed for promoting the kin of family and friends”.
“First the Congress party compromised heavily by accepting a mere nine seats under the mahagathbandhan alliance. Secondly, the party received a huge blow in ticket distribution as it gave importance and dependency either on dynasty or borrowed players at the cost of dedicated party leaders and workers,” Mr. Jha rued.
Apparently peeved at the “pitiable” condition of his party under the mahagathbandhan alliance, former BPCC president Anil Sharma had quit the party on March 31. At the time he claimed that the Congress had gotten stuck in a “disastrous” partnership with the RJD.
