RJD, Congress seat-sharing talks hit a wall over Seemanchal region: These 5 seats are bone of contention

Five seats have reportedly emerged as the source of seat-sharing discord between Congress and its Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) allies in the upcoming two-phase Bihar election on November 6 and 11.

According to a report by Indian Express, the five seats are Baisi (Purnea), Bahadurganj (Kishanganj), Raniganj (Araria), Kahalgaon (Bhagalpur) and Saharsa.

In the 2020 Assembly election, the RJD contested Raniganj, Saharsa, and Baisi, while Kahalgaon and Bahadurganj went to the Congress. However, none of these parties won any of these seats.

Sources told IE said that while the RJD wants the Congress to give up Kahalgaon and Bahadurganj. However, the Congress wants Raniganj, Saharsa, and Baisi in return. “The negotiations have gone on for hours at a time, but there are five seats where the RJD and Congress are still struggling to reach a consensus. No party wants to concede even a single seat at this point as the allies have increased and the number of seats for every party will have to decrease,” said a source.

Importance of Seemanchal

Three of these contentious seats- Baisi (Purnea), Bahadurganj (Kishanganj) and Raniganj (Araria) are part of the Seemanchal region. The region, which has swung between parties in the past five elections, is considered crucial.

Seemanchal consists of 24 Assembly seats with seven in Purnia district, six in Araria, four in Kishanganj, and seven in Katihar. In the last five Assembly polls, the BJP has led in 2020 with eight seats, in 2010 with 13 seats, and in 2005 with nine seats.

Seemanchal has the highest percentage of Muslim population in Bihar. Overall, the Muslim population in Seemanchal is 47 percent as against 17.7 per cent Muslims across Bihar, according to the 2011 census. The highest concentration of the community is in Kishanganj at 67.89%, followed by Katihar at 44.47%, Araria at 42.95%, and Purnia at 38.46%.

The RJD has historically relied on the Muslim vote bank in this area. Seemanchal had been a stronghold of the RJD in the past with former minister Taslimuddin dominating Muslim politics in all its four districts. The decline in RJD’s performance between 2015 and 2020 in the region and the rise of AIMIM is attributed to the absence of Taslimuddin who passed away in 2017.

Meanwhile, during his “Voter Adhikar Yatra” recently,  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the region to consolidate support among minority and backward-caste voters in the region.

However, the entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief  Asaduddin Owaisi in the poll fray further complicates the dynamics. Following repeated “snubs” by the RJD over its offer to be included in the Mahagathbandhan, AIMIM has announced four candidates for the coming Bihar Assembly polls. In the 2020 Assembly elections, AIMIM won five seats in Seemanchal.

The entry of AIMIM into Seemanchal politics has undoubtedly made the landscape more competitive for the RJD.

Why is there a roadblock?

An RJD insider told IE that the party had already promised the Kahalgaon ticket to a Yadav candidate without consulting the Congress. The Congress got further upset after RJD leader and state Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav started his Assembly election campaign from Kahalgaon on Wednesday.

The Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) is learnt to have cleared 25 candidates in seats that are its traditional strongholds.

According to IE, the  party’s Screening Committee for Bihar is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss candidates for the rest of the seats.