Bihar Elections: ‘Dead Seats’ May Heat Up Congress-RJD Seat-Sharing Talks
News18 India's analysis of the 70 seats the Congress contested the last time reveals that at least 35 of them were historically weak, for both the Congress and RJD
The Congress has made it clear that it will contest the Bihar elections in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but a dispute over “dead seats", which have never been won, between the two parties seems inevitable.
Congress leaders believe that, in the last election, they were allocated seats, which neither the Congress nor the RJD had won for decades. This time, the Congress wants a respectful alliance arrangement with winnable seats, even as the RJD argues that victory is possible even on dead seats.
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News18 India’s analysis of the 70 seats the Congress contested the last time reveals that at least 35 of them were historically weak, for both the Congress and RJD.
THE BREAK-UP
In the 2015 elections, the Congress contested 41 seats as part of the Grand Alliance and won 27. However, in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress contested 70 seats and won 19, but its strike rate was worse than that of RJD and Left parties.
For example, in the last election, the Congress was given nine seats in West Champaran and East Champaran districts, of which seven had been NDA strongholds for years. These include Valmikinagar, Ramnagar, Bagaha, Nautan, Chanpatia, Raxaul, and Govindganj.
Similarly, the Congress was given four seats in Patna district, but three of them were dead seats — Barh, Bankipur, and Patna Sahib.
In Nalanda district, the Congress received three assembly seats — Rajgir, Nalanda, and Harnaut. All three were dead seats. Rajgir has not been won by the Congress since 1962, Harnaut since 1977, and Nalanda since 1995.
LEADERSPEAK
Congress senior leader and MP from Bihar Tariq Anwar says, “Our effort will be to adjust the seats through mutual agreement. Everyone will be given seats where they have influence. If we give a seat where the Congress has influence to another party, it will be a disadvantage. The party that has influence in a particular area will be given the seat there."
However, RJD leader and MP Sudhakar Singh argued that seats should be allocated based on winnability and that the Congress, like RJD, can also defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in tough seats. He cites the example of how RJD won the Buxar Lok Sabha seat in 2024, a BJP stronghold.
Talking to News18 India exclusively, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Kumar said that the Congress is not a “B Team" in the alliance and deserves a fair share of seats.
Independent MP from Bihar, Pappu Yadav, who has been actively campaigning for Congress in various state elections, believes that if the Congress contests alone, it could win around 40 seats.
Congress sources confirm that the issue of dead seats has been raised in every party meeting from Bihar to Delhi, making it one of the most critical topics in the seat-sharing talks.
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