No political bloc has declared their CM face, leaving Bihar voters in the dark

Ahead of the first phase of the Bihar Assembly election on November 6, there is still utter confusion among both the main political blocs in the State over their Chief Ministerial candidates. Their seat-sharing plans are also still in a state of flux, with voters in a number of constituencies left confused about the candidates and their party affiliations.

For instance, both the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal have fielded their own candidates in over a dozen seats, though they are supposed to be partners in the Opposition mahagathbandhan alliance.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance claimed that it had finalised seat distribution among partners, but voters in the Chenari seat in Rohtas district are confused about the sitting MLA Murari Prasad Gautam who was elected on a Congress ticket but joined the BJP last year, and seems to be contesting the election this year on a Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) ticket.

“We’re still confused from which party Gautam ji is a candidate, though he has filed his nomination papers on LJP (RV) ticket,” said Kanhaiya Prasad, 48, a mason in Gurugram who returns to his constituency in Chenari for every election season. “Is baar confusia diya hai sabko (this time, they’ve confused us all),” he laughed. “I’m yet to know who are the CM faces of parties? I guess none have announced yet… In this confused state, it is better Nitish ji should continue, he has been doing good work,” he said, quickly adding, “But if someone else comes up before the polling, we’ll definitely give it a rethink… Let’s see what happens till the poll comes.”

Elusive Congress support for Tejashwi

In the mahagathbandhan, the Congress is yet to confirm RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the CM face of the alliance, with party leaders saying they would only discuss the issue after the election. “And this seems to be the real bottleneck between the two parties over finalisation of seat sharing… The RJD marks Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram as the man behind the game plan, and that is why the RJD too has fielded Suresh Paswan as their party candidate in the Kutumba (reserved) seat of Aurangabad district from where Mr. Ram has won the Assembly poll twice,” said a Bihar Congress leader who preferred to stay anonymous. He hoped that similar issues in nearly a dozen such seats where both the parties have put up their candidates “may be resolved by tomorrow”.

However, RJD leader and party spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari countered: “Our party leader Tejashwi Yadav has been the chairman of the mahagathbandhan coordination committee in the State and chairman of the committee in usual course becomes the Chief Minister of the State”. He added: “By the blessings of the people of the State in the upcoming poll, no one else, but only Tejashwi Yadav will be the next CM of Bihar.”

Also read: Prashant Kishor: From backroom to ballot

‘If not Nitish, then who?’

Similar issues bedevil the ruling NDA as well, with the BJP yet to declare that JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will continue in his role as CM if the alliance wins the election. “If not Nitish Kumar, who else will it be? He is the Chief Minister of the State and he will be the Chief Minister even after the poll,” JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar asserted.

However, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah who made a recent three-day visit to poll-bound Bihar also avoided any direct comment on Mr. Kumar’s chances of retaining the CM post. “The leaders of alliance partners would elect [the CM],” he told a private news channel in Patna. Even while addressing public meetings in Bihar, he did not offer any assurances that Mr. Kumar would continue as the CM of the State.

Earlier, after Mr. Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP to join hands with the mahagathbandhan, Mr. Shah had asserted that all “doors of the BJP have been shut forever for Mr. Kumar”.

The JD(U) and BJP are contesting in an equal number of 101 seats each in the 243-member State Assembly. The other NDA allies — Chirag Paswan-led LJP(RV) with 29 seats, and the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), contesting in six seats seats each — have also avoiding naming any CM candidate.

‘State of chaos’

The self-proclaimed third player in the electoral arena, the Jan Suraaj Party founded by former poll-strategist Prashant Kishor, also appears unclear about who will be the CM face if his party wins the poll.

“For the first time in the last several decades, Bihar is going to the polls without any CM face from any political party or bloc, throwing the voters into a state of chaos,” says political analyst N.K. Choudhary. “Chaos and confusion reign supreme in today’s Bihar’s political firmament, when polls are knocking on the door,” he added.