Patna: The deadlock over seat sharing among opposition INDIA bloc partners continued even as the last date for filing nomination papers for first phase election to be held on Nov 6 ended on Friday.RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said a total of 71 party candidates filed nominations for the first phase, including the party’s CM face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav; national general secretary Bhola Yadav; Mohammad Shahabuddin’s son Osama Shahab; ex-speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhari; Alok Mehta, Lalit Yadav and Israel Mansuri—all former ministers, and senior leader Bhai Birendra.
Similarly, 25 nominations were filed by Congress candidates, including Braj Kishore Ravi; ex-Tamil Nadu DGP Amita Bhushan, and Pratima Kumari. As many as 14 nominations were filed by CPI(ML), whereas six candidates filed their papers from the VIP, including national party president Santosh Sahani and vice-president Umesh Sahani. The national president filed his nomination from Gaura Bauram seat. However, VIP founder Mukesh Sahani chose to stay out of the poll fray.As no understanding could be reached among them till Friday, the INDIA bloc candidates filed nominations with caution but respected each other’s concerns. In the end, there were eight seats—Bachhwara, Kahalgaon, Lalganj, Gaura Bauram, Tarapur, Vaishali, Rajapakar, and Rosera—where the allies will have a friendly fight if the candidates don’t withdraw from the poll fray.Monday is the last date for the withdrawal of names of candidates from the contest.Until Sept 1, the INDIA bloc partners, comprising RJD, Congress, Left and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), displayed rare unity by joining the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ led by leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. However, differences soon emerged on several issues, preventing them from reaching a seat-sharing agreement.The VIP founder said: “I am not fighting elections since I have to ensure the victory of the INDIA bloc in the elections. If I contest polls, this will affect campaign.” He added he would campaign for all 243 seats in the elections. “I will continue to work vigorously to ensure that the INDIA bloc govt is formed,” he said.Asked if his party was offered a Rajya Sabha berth as a seat deal, Sahani said, “I don’t want to go to Rajya Sabha. My intent is to form the next govt and become the deputy CM.”A total of 1,698 nominations were filed for the first phase elections, an Election Commission official said.
