Bihar elections: Grand Alliance faces disarray as allies clash on eight seats

October 18, 2025

Patna: The Grand Alliance in Bihar is facing major internal turmoil as it heads into the 2025 Assembly elections.

Even after the first round of nominations, the opposition bloc has failed to finalize a seat-sharing arrangement, resulting in eight intra-alliance clashes that expose growing rifts within the coalition.

Confusion After Nomination Deadline

The nomination process for the first phase concluded on Friday, yet the alliance — comprising the RJD, Congress, CPI, CPI-ML, CPIM, and VIP — has not officially announced how many seats each party will contest.

Internal disagreements and poor coordination have marred the bloc’s efforts, leaving its strategy in disarray.

So far, Congress has declared 48 candidates, while CPI(ML) has announced 18. But with no unified plan, several partners are now pitted against one another instead of taking on the ruling NDA.

Allies Versus Allies: Eight Intra-Alliance Battles

In at least eight constituencies, Grand Alliance partners have fielded rival candidates — a rare and damaging situation for a coalition that claims unity.

• Lalganj: RJD’s Shivani Shukla, daughter of strongman Munna Shukla, is contesting against Congress’s Aditya Kumar Raja.
• Vaishali: RJD’s Ajay Kushwaha vs. Congress’s Sanjeev Kumar.
• Tarapur: RJD’s Arun Shah vs. VIP’s Sakaldev Bind.
• Bachhwara (Begusarai): CPI’s Awadhesh Rai vs. Congress’s Garib Das.
• Gaura Bauram: RJD’s Afzal Ali vs. VIP’s Santosh Sahani.
• Rajapakad: CPI’s Mohit Paswan vs. Congress’s Pratima Das.
• Rosera: CPI’s Laxman Paswan vs. Congress’s B.K. Ravi.
• (One more constituency remains similarly split among alliance partners.)

Instead of confronting the NDA, the Grand Alliance appears to be locked in internal competition, confusing its supporters and weakening its electoral footing.

Leadership Struggles and Last-Minute Chaos

For over 10 days, senior leaders have been engaged in hectic negotiations — from Patna to Delhi — to finalize a seat-sharing formula.

Despite efforts by Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to calm tensions, no concrete breakthrough emerged.

As the nomination deadline approached, chaos ensued: parties distributed symbols prematurely, and several candidates hurried to file their papers at the last moment, deepening the impression of disorganization within the opposition camp.