With probable candidates of the Congress growing anxious about getting a ticket for the Bihar Assembly elections as the last date for filing nominations for the first phase on October 17 nears, the party’s sub-committee met Wednesday and is learnt to have put nine seats about which they are undecided in a “pending list”.
The party’s Central Election Committee until Tuesday night cleared candidates for 43 seats while the sub-committee, headed by senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, is learnt to have greenlit the names for eight seats on Wednesday.
Late on Wednesday, the Congress announced the names of seven candidates including state Congress chief Rajesh Ram from Kutumba.
Sources told The Indian Express that among the nine seats on the “pending” list are Araria, Supaul and Pranpur (Katihar district). “For Araria, there is a possibility that two-time Congress MLA Avidur Rahman may be dropped. In Pranpur, there is no clarity whether last time’s candidate Tauquir Alam will be repeated or not. Situation is the same with Supaul and Minnatullah Rahmani, who had contested from the seat in 2020,” said a source, who was present during the meeting on Wednesday.
The Indian Express reported last week that the seat-sharing talks between the two parties were stymied by five seats — Baisi (Purnea), Bahadurganj (Kishanganj), Raniganj (Araria), Kahalgaon, and Saharsa.
Sources said while issues on some of these seats have been resolved, differences still persist between the allies.
While the Congress has been demanding 65 seats, 18-20 seats are likely to go to Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), and some to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren-led JMM and Pashupati Paras’ RLJP. “The smaller allies are unhappy with 18-20 seats offer, but discussions are being held to placate him,” said a source.
