RJD wants Tejashwi formally declared next Chief Minister candidate.
Congress is unwilling to concede ground from fear of alienating voters.
Real test will come when seat-sharing negotiations begin in earnest.
During the Voter Adhikar Yatra, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was asked whether Tejashwi Yadav would be projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate in Bihar, he avoided a direct answer. That brief hesitation was enough to bring to the surface the simmering tensions within the INDIA bloc, shaking the carefully cultivated façade of unity.
At the core of these tensions lie the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress party's competing interests. The two allies are at odds over seat-sharing and the crucial question of who will be the chief minister in case of their victory. Recent statements by leaders of both outfits have grown sharper, leaving little doubt about the friction between them.
On September 9, after Bihar Congress leaders met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, party in-charge Krishna Allavaru told reporters at Patna airport, “The face of the Chief Minister will be decided by the people of Bihar.” The remark was immediately read as a snub to RJD. After this, party leader Tejashwi Yadav, the former Deputy Chief Minister, addressed a rally in Muzaffarpur in which he boldly declared that his party was ready to contest all 243 seats in the Assembly on its own if required.
Tejashwi’s close aide, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sanjay Yadav, drove the point home further, “The kind of leader Bihar has today is unmatched anywhere else. Tejashwi Yadav cannot and will not retreat from his claim of being the Chief Ministerial face.” His words left no doubt that RJD wanted clarity on the alliance's choice of future chief minister and expected a formal announcement without delay.
For seasoned political observers, this is classic bargaining politics. RJD is pressing for an official declaration in Tejashwi’s name, while Congress is trying to use its leverage to push for more seats.
One RJD leader, speaking anonymously, put it bluntly: “Just as the sun must rise in the east, Tejashwi Yadav will be the CM face. If Congress continues its obstinacy, it will face public anger and heavy losses. On the ground, Congress is worth only 30-40 seats, yet it demands 70, like last time. Worse, it now wants the Deputy CM post as well.”
He is referring to a resentment that dates back to 2020. In that year's election, the Grand Alliance of the RJD, Congress, and Left parties fell short of a majority by just 12 seats. Out of 243 constituencies, RJD contested 144, Congress 70, and the Left 29. Together, they won 110 seats with 37.23 per cent of the vote share.
Of these, RJD bagged 75, the Left 16, and the Congress only 19. In terms of strike rate, RJD stood at 52.08 per cent, the Left at 55.17 per cent, while Congress trailed with just 27.14 per cent. The verdict was clear: giving Congress 70 seats to contest from had been a strategic blunder. Many RJD leaders still hold that allocation responsible for the alliance’s failure. Congress, however, argues that it was forced to contest “unwinnable” constituencies.
At present, both the RJD and Congress are holding their own yatras (campaign tours) across Bihar. After the Voter Adhikar Yatra created momentum in favor of the INDIA parties, there was speculation that all alliance partners would now hold joint campaigns in Bihar.
But after the September 9 meeting in Delhi, it was decided that instead of joining the common yatra, Congress would conduct its own, called the “Har Ghar Yatra”. According to reports, the justification was that Congress would focus on districts not covered during the Voter Adhikar Yatra.
Bihar Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan told Outlook that the yatra began on September 15. He described it as a micro-level campaign, involving direct voter-to-voter contact, continuing until the elections. Congress would use it to promote its five guarantees to voters.
The very next day, on September 16, the RJD launched its own Yatra named the “Bihar Adhikar Yatra”. Party spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari insisted this was not a reaction to Congress’s program but a planned tour covering areas Tejashwi that could not reach during the Voter Adhikar Yatra.
It is, however, quite evident that while both parties are using these yatras to connect with voters, they are also flexing muscles against each other—Congress over seat share, and the RJD over who will be declared the chief ministerial candidate.
Commenting on the rising friction, Tiwari told Outlook, “The Congress is our ally. All partners know the RJD is the biggest force. If someone pretends not to understand this, that’s their problem. The people of Bihar are ready for Tejashwi Yadav as CM. The RJD is prepared for [contesting on] all 243 seats. We have both leadership and people’s support. If someone refuses to accept us as the elder brother, then the people will reject them.”
The RJD denies that its yatra was a counter to the Congress. Yet, several reports and analysts suggest that the Congress gained significant goodwill from the Voter Adhikar Yatra, leaving the RJD somewhat uneasy. The BJP even mocked that while Congress was long seen as RJD’s junior partner in Bihar, the yatra made the RJD appear to be Congress’s follower.
Reports suggest that the Congress party may actually have gained more visibility from the Voter Adhikar Yatra, leaving the RJD rank and file uneasy. The BJP wasted no time mocking the situation, saying that Congress, often derided as RJD’s junior partner in Bihar, had managed to turn RJD into its follower during the campaign.
But could this tug-of-war be just pre-election posturing? After all, without an alliance, the fate of each of the constituents of the INDIA bloc may be even more uncertain, especially the Congress party and the smaller alliance partners in the opposition. The question, then, is, who will shoulder the maximum burden of accommodating new allies?
RJD does find support for Tejashwi’s claim from allies like Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the Left, but Congress’s silence has caused open irritation within RJD ranks.
Besides, in caste-conscious Indian elections, the elite caste and backward-class voters rarely agree on their choice of party. Those decisions are best left to after the elections.
That could explain why Congress leaders downplay any talk of discord. Rajesh Rathore, head of Bihar Congress’s media committee, argued, “In 2020, under Tejashwi’s leadership, we performed well. But for vote theft, he would already be CM. The current coordination committee too is functioning under his leadership. Soon, the top leaders will resolve everything. This talk of bitterness is propaganda by the opposition and media.”
Still, the situation is more complex than in 2020. The alliance is now larger, with VIP, the Pashupati Paras faction of Lok Janshakti Party, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha joining RJD, Congress, and the Left in alliance. Accommodating all partners will not be easy. Even Rathore admits, “Everyone will have to make space—not just Congress. RJD and the Left too will need to part with some seats.”
In short, the INDIA bloc in Bihar is balancing pressure tactics with pragmatism. RJD wants Tejashwi formally declared as the CM face, while Congress is unwilling to concede ground too soon. The real test will come when seat-sharing negotiations begin in earnest. Until then, the alliance will continue to walk the fine line between cooperation and confrontation.
