'Seat-sharing talks have begun': Tejashwi after 6-hour-long meeting of INDIA bloc on Bihar

Hindustan Times

12-07-2025

INDIA bloc partners in Bihar on Saturday held a marathon brainstorming session here to discuss, among other things, sharing of seats in the state assembly polls due later this year. File photo of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.(ANI)
The meeting, held at the residence of Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, continued for nearly six hours.
Later, Yadav, who heads the coalition's coordination committee, briefly interacted with journalists.
"Yes, seat-sharing talks have begun. But I cannot divulge more details now. The deliberations are an internal matter and we will make things public when things are finalised," said the RJD leader, who is likely to be the INDIA bloc's chief ministerial candidate.
Also Read: 'Unless you win, it won't matter': Salman Khurshid on Bihar SIR row
The former deputy chief minister also alleged that the NDA government headed by JD(U) president Nitish Kumar was a "copycat" which was "stealing" his ideas like setting up of a youth commission (yuva aayog) and hiking old age pension.
"I am sure 'Mai Bahin Samman Yojana' will also be copied by them soon," said the young leader, who has promised to pay the state's women a monthly stipend of ₹2,500 if his party was voted to power.
Yadav claimed that the people were fed up with the NDA government which lacked "vision" and was unable to keep law and order under control.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that NDA partners like Union minister Chirag Paswan have also started voicing concern over deteriorating law and order, the RJD leader shot back, "He should go and tell the Centre that 'jungle raj' is prevailing in Bihar."
Notably, 'jungle raj', an expression indicative of lawlessness, is a colloquialism often used by BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to underscore the RJD's poor track record in controlling crime while it ruled Bihar.
The INDIA bloc meeting was attended by Congress' Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, Vikassheel Insaan Party president Mukesh Sahani and leaders of three Left parties.
Sahani interacted with journalists after the meeting and said, "Yes, seat-sharing talks have begun. We cannot share details about the same right now. But it must be added that there were other issues, like setting up of a coordination committee and the strategy to ensure no foul play takes place during special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls."
"We are opposed to the SIR per se. But until the Supreme Court comes out with a final ruling, we must ensure that all directives are followed during the exercise," said Sahani, who had contested the 2020 assembly polls as a BJP ally but ended up burning his bridges with the saffron party within a year.
The former Bollywood set designer was also asked about whether a decision has been taken on who would be the deputy chief minister if Yadav landed the top job.
Sahani, who has made no secret of his ambitions, responded with a wide grin, "who else, but me", and sped away.