INDIA bloc decides to corner Bihar CM Nitish Kumar over corruption, list achievements of Grand Alliance

RJD MP Manoj Jha addresses a press conference after the INDIA bloc meeting on Bihar elections 2025, in Patna, Sunday, May 4, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

With the Assembly election due in Bihar later this year, parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance said there was no confusion about “leadership” in the bloc and that the alliance will contest the election unitedly in all 243 seats.

The third election-related meeting of the Mahagathbandhan, or Grand Alliance, which is part of the INDIA bloc, was organised at Diga Resort in Patna on Sunday. Top leaders of the Opposition bloc attended the meeting, including Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the alliance’s State co-ordination committee head; Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru; Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani; Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya; and leaders of other Left parties.

More than a thousand leaders, functionaries, and cadre of the respective parties were in attendance at the meeting, including MPs, MLAs, MLCs, and the parties’ district presidents.

During the meeting, Mr. Yadav asked all leaders meet the people and list out the achievements and good work done by the Mahagathbandhan when he was the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

Mr. Yadav said five lakh youth got jobs during the Grand Alliance government and the alliance would continue to focus on jobs when it returns to power. He also said they would corner the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance government on the issues of “corruption and high-handedness” of officials and police officers from district to block levels.

It was also decided to extend support to the all-India strike called by the Central Trade Union on May 20 in support of the demands of workers.

After the meeting, RJD’s Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha told the media, “We will contest elections in all 243 seats and in every seat, an INDIA bloc candidate will fight the battle. We are united and there is no confusion about leadership in our alliance. The people of Bihar know who will be the leader.”

Asked about the Chief Ministerial candidate of the bloc, Mr. Jha said, “Everyone knows who is the CM face and when the right time comes, a formal announcement will be made.”

Mr. Sahani said leaders were told to ensure that the bloc is visible at district, block, panchayat and booth levels across the State, just as it is in Patna.

“It was decided to reach out to every village and expose the government. The Centre’s decision to hold a caste census is a big victory for the alliance. Our veteran leaders fought a long battle for this. The BJP was forced to take this decision due to fear of the Opposition,” Mr. Sahani said.

He stressed that in its very first battle, the INDIA bloc had reduced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tally from 303 to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha and something similar will happen in Bihar too.

Before the meeting, the leaders observed silence to honour the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.

On May 18, the presidents and in-charges of the alliance parties will sit together to discuss creation of coordination committees at the block and panchayat levels.