The Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is struggling to finalise its seat-sharing formula.

The Congress is demanding a larger share of “winnable” constituencies and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is resisting, citing the entry of new allies.

The Congress has pitched for 70 seats, the same as in 2020, but many of them are not the ones it contested earlier. This time, the party wants constituencies it considers more favourable.

Bihar Congress leaders have complained that the RJD usually keeps the best (winnable) seats.

“There are good seats and bad seats (in terms of winnability) and we believe that one party should not get all the good seats and the other gets the bad ones,” said Krishna Allavaru, the party’s Bihar in charge. “There should be a balance between good and bad seats”, he was quoted as saying by PTI.

The presence of three new allies has complicated negotiations.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Pasupati Prasad-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahani, which was part of the NDA in 2020, are all pressing for their share.

Alongside them are the Left parties, including CPI(ML) Liberation.

CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has urged both the RJD and the Congress to adopt a more accommodating stance. “The CPI(ML) Liberation was underrepresented last time and we want fair representation this time.

There are new allies too, which means RJD and Congress will have to contest fewer seats compared to 2020. They have to be more accommodative,” he told PTI.

Bhattacharya said his party was hoping to contest at least 40 seats, up from 19 in 2020, when it won 12. “Maybe contesting fewer seats than last time but winning more and performing better… would be in the interest of the Congress, and definitely that of the entire INDIA bloc,” he remarked.

“In 2015, Congress contested 40 seats and won 27. That was a very good strike rate. But in 2020, when they contested 70, it was biting off more than they could possibly chew. So I think the balance should be somewhere in between,” the CPIML leader reminded.

In 2020 Assembly polls, the RJD won 75 of the 144 seats it contested and emerged as the single-largest party. The Congress contested 70 seats and won 19.

The NDA won 125 out of the 243 constituencies. The mahagatbandhan tally was 110.

The impasse has also delayed the announcement of the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate, even as RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is campaigning as the Opposition’s CM face.

“The Congress seems to be deliberately putting off an official announcement but the people of Bihar know that Tejashwi is set to be the next chief minister. The RJD is going ahead and seeking votes in Tejashwi’s name,” an RJD leader said to PTI.

At a rally in Muzaffarpur, he told supporters: “We will return (to power), remember this.… This time, Tejashwi will contest from all 243 seats. My appeal to all of you is to vote in my name.”

Rahul Gandhi, during his recent Voter Adhikar Yatra, avoided questions on endorsing Tejashwi as CM.