'Bihar is saved': BJP slams Mahagathbandhan as JMM breaks ranks over seat-sharing

Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi during the Voter Adhikar Yatra

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's decision to go solo in Bihar Assembly elections has presented the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a significant political weapon ahead of the assembly elections. The announcement by the JMM has prompted a fierce attack from the BJP, which labelled the disunity as a result of competing ambitions within the opposition bloc.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya was quick to seize on the rift, posting a sharp critique on social media. “Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has released the list of its candidates in Bihar and also announced that it is no longer a part of the Mahagathbandhan. Not only this, the party also said that the alliance in Jharkhand will be reconsidered after the Bihar elections. The arrogance of Rahul [Gandhi] and Tejashwi [Yadav] is the real reason for the collapse of the Mahagathbandhan. Bihar is saved," he wrote on X.

The JMM’s decision to contest the Bihar polls independently on a small number of seats, after failing to secure a satisfactory allocation, is merely the latest symptom of the deeper seat-sharing chaos plaguing the Mahagathbandhan.

While the NDA has already finalised its seat-sharing arrangement, the opposition remains stuck in intense negotiations, even as nominations for the first phase of polling have closed. NDA has projected a united front, quickly announcing a formal seat-sharing pact with the JD(U) (101 seats each), LJP (Ram Vilas), RLM, and HAM.

The BJP is aggressively leveraging the Mahagathbandhan’s public disarray, mocking it as a mere “Lathbandhan" (an alliance of chaos), thereby shifting the public narrative to focus on opposition infighting rather than the NDA’s own internal tensions.

Media reports quoting Rashtriya Janata Dal sources said the number of seats that each ally — the RJD, Congress, Left parties and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) — would contest had been broadly agreed on a few days earlier. However, disagreements persist over the choice of constituencies.Traditionally, the RJD has dominated the seat-sharing negotiations within the alliance. But this time, the Congress and the VIP have pushed harder — not just for more seats but also for “quality” (winnable) seats.