RJD likely to go solo in upcoming MLC polls

Patna: After the Bihar by-election, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav is not interested to share seats with the Congress for the upcoming Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) polls in the state.

The political parties in Bihar have started working on the equations with the alliance partners for the 24 seats of the MLC.

The Election Commission has cleared the deck after the Panchayat election which concluded on December 15.

According to a top RJD leader, Tejashwi Yadav knew that the "Congress party had lost its ground in Bihar". He had gauged it by the party's performance in the Bihar by-election.

Tejashwi Yadav has already sent the probable candidates to establish contacts with the elected members of the Panchayat and the urban local body, the RJD leader, requesting anonymity, said.

He said that the names of the candidates will be shortlisted by Tejashwi Yadav.

Out of 24, 13 MLCs of BJP, 8 of JDU, 2 of RJD and 1 of Congress party are currently incumbent.

"These MLCs were elected after the 2015 assembly election of Bihar. At that time, RJD, JD-U and Congress were part of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. Now, the JD-U has separated from Mahagathbandhan, hence RJD wants to contest on all 24 seats," he said.

The Congress leaders on the other hand are waiting for an official statement from the RJD on this issue. The party leaders have already started claiming seats from the RJD.

"In Bihar, everyone knew the status of the Congress party. We are the single largest party in the state with 75 MLAs and we would not take pressure from any other political parties on this issue. We are capable of contesting the election on its own," said Mritunjay Tiwari, national spokesperson of RJD.

Sources, however, said that the Congress has an option to give tickets to the candidates chosen by Tejashwi Yadav.

For RJD, it would also be a challenge to satisfy the Left parties as well. They have 16 MLAs in Bihar Vidhan Sabha including 11 of CPI (ML), 3 of CPI (M) and two of CPI. Congress party has 19 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha.