Mahagathbandhan Finalises Bihar Seat-Sharing Deal After Intense Talks, Formal Announcement Imminent
After marathon negotiations and last-minute brinkmanship, the Grand Alliance partners in Bihar have reached a consensus on seat distribution ahead of the 2025 Assembly elections...
After marathon negotiations and last-minute brinkmanship, the Grand Alliance partners in Bihar have reached a consensus on seat distribution ahead of the 2025 Assembly elections — averting a potential split that could have reshaped the state’s political landscape.
Long Day of Political Drama Ends in Consensus
PATNA — In a dramatic culmination to days of political wrangling, the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) sealed its seat-sharing formula late Thursday night (October 16, 2025), just hours before the final deadline for nominations for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly election. A formal public announcement is expected soon.
The agreement came after a tense day that saw Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) nearly walk out of the alliance, echoing his abrupt exit before the 2020 polls. Sahani had called a noon press conference that was postponed twice and eventually cancelled — signalling behind-the-scenes negotiations that lasted until late evening.
Congress, RJD, and CPI(ML) Resolve Differences
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation [CPI(ML)] spent most of Thursday in back-to-back meetings to iron out disagreements over seat allocations. According to sources close to the negotiations, the Congress brought in former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to mediate the final round of talks.
Three constituencies — Kahalgaon, Vaishali, and Jale — were the main points of contention between the Congress and the RJD. Eventually, the Congress proceeded to release its first list of 48 candidates late Thursday, signaling that the alliance formula had been settled.
The list included 24 candidates each for the first and second phases of polling. Party leaders Rajesh Ram and Shakeel Ahmed Khan retained their seats from Kutumba and Kadwa, respectively. The Congress slate features five women, four Muslim candidates, nine from Scheduled Castes, and one from a Scheduled Tribe background.
Prominent names include Shashant Shekhar (Patna Sahib), Kaushlendra Kumar (Nalanda), Bijendra Chaudhary (Muzaffarpur), Amita Bhushan (Begusarai), and Sanjay Kumar Tiwari alias Munna Tiwari (Buxar).
Sahani’s Seat Demands and Rahul Gandhi’s Intervention
Trouble within the alliance escalated when VIP chief Mukesh Sahani claimed his party’s seat share had been steadily reduced — from a promised 35 to just 18. Frustrated by the RJD’s resistance, Sahani reportedly wrote to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday afternoon, appealing for intervention and arguing that his demands were “a matter of ideology, not arithmetic.”
According to senior Congress insiders, Rahul Gandhi personally stepped in to defuse the standoff. Following his mediation, the RJD is believed to have agreed to allocate 15 seats to the VIP.
Throughout the day, VIP leaders amplified their public messaging, emphasizing the electoral weight of the Nishad community, which they claim represents roughly 10% of Bihar’s electorate. “If our concerns are ignored, the alliance leadership will have to bear the consequences,” VIP spokesperson Sunil Nishad told reporters earlier in the day.
CPI(ML) Advocates Compromise to Preserve Unity
While the RJD leadership was initially firm on limiting VIP’s demands, CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya reportedly urged allies to prioritize unity over numbers. “Maintaining the integrity of the Mahagathbandhan is more important than one or two seats,” he is said to have told partners, according to alliance sources.
The CPI(ML), which performed strongly in the 2020 elections by winning 12 of the 19 seats it contested, is expected to gain one additional seat under the new arrangement.
BJP Capitalises on Alliance Confusion
The political uncertainty within the opposition bloc offered fresh ammunition to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal mocked the turmoil, saying, “It looks like Mukesh Sahani has been thrown out of the Mahagathbandhan like a speck in milk.” He praised Sahani’s influence among the Nishad voters, calling him “a credible leader of his community.”
The BJP itself has been grappling with internal disagreements over candidate selection, and the Grand Alliance’s disarray briefly shifted public attention away from the NDA’s own challenges.
Who Is Mukesh Sahani?
A prominent voice of Bihar’s Nishad (boatmen and fishermen) community, Sahani often refers to himself as the “Son of Mallah.” Before entering politics, he worked as a set designer in the Hindi film industry. In 2015, he founded the Nishad Vikas Sangh and initially aligned with the BJP.
Sahani later launched the VIP in 2018, contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as part of the Mahagathbandhan — unsuccessfully. In 2020, he switched sides to the NDA just before the Assembly elections. Though he lost his own seat from Simri-Bakhtiyarpur, the VIP secured four seats and Sahani was appointed Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.
By 2022, three of his four MLAs defected to the BJP, prompting Sahani to return to the Grand Alliance in 2024. His political journey underscores Bihar’s shifting caste and coalition dynamics, where smaller regional parties often hold the balance of power.
Political Significance
The last-minute resolution of the Mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing dispute prevents a potential fracture that could have weakened the alliance’s prospects against the NDA. With voting in the first phase approaching, the episode highlights the fragile unity and competitive bargaining that define Bihar’s coalition politics.
Political analysts say the developments underscore the growing importance of caste-based mobilization and micro-level negotiation in the state’s electoral landscape.