New Delhi: The notification for the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections has been released. While the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan are in a tussle over seat-sharing, the Congress has started screening of ticket holders. This time, the list of ticket seekers also includes the heirs of preferred leaders. But, the high command’s focus is only on the ‘winners’ – whether they are someone’s son or not.
According to party insiders, several senior leaders like former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, former Union Minister Shakeel Ahmed, sitting MLA Ajit Sharma, former minister Awadhesh Singh and former state president MM Jha have requested the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to give tickets for their children.
Meera Kumar’s son Anshul Kumar and Akhilesh Prasad Singh’s son Akash Singh have contested the Lok Sabha elections in the past. They are trying to try their hand in this assembly election. MM Jha and Shakeel Ahmed want to start their sons’ political careers. Ajit Sharma wants his daughter, who is a Bollywood actress, to join active politics.
Party insiders said there was nothing wrong in getting tickets for the children of senior leaders, but the party was in favour of giving tickets to the most suitable candidate in every seat. Earlier, senior leaders wanted no other names to be sent from the assembly to which their children’s names are being sent. But members of the screening committee sent a panel of names to those seats to ensure fairness.
“AICC secretary in-charge of Bihar Sushil Pasi told ETV India, “”Ticket distribution is the most challenging and important aspect of politics.” It is not wrong for senior leaders to desire tickets for their sons or daughters, but the main concern for the party is to always field the most suitable and winning candidate, keeping in mind the local situation.”
Party insiders said that once the alliance formally announces the seat-sharing formula, the Congress will release its first list of candidates. Thereafter, the remaining seats will be presented before the Chief Election Commission by next week. Insiders said the Congress, which contested 70 out of 243 seats in 2020, got to contest around 60 seats this time.
According to AICC secretary in-charge of Bihar Devendra Yadav, the alliance partners are working fast on both seat-sharing and ticket distribution. This process will be completed on time. “””I would like to say that 99 per cent of the background work on both seat distribution and ticket distribution has been completed internally,”” Yadav told ETV India.” “We will definitely make a formal announcement in due course.”””
“””As far as ticket distribution is concerned, political factors and social equations change in every seat,”” he said.” We take decisions accordingly. We have also considered the response of the central observers on all their seats to identify the most suitable candidate. There are some seats that need less discussion, while there are some that require tough negotiations.”Party insiders said discussions with the RJD on some seats were yet to be finalised, but said the issue would be resolved amicably in a day or two. The AICC functionary said the Congress along with its allies is fully prepared for the upcoming elections and is in a better position than the ruling NDA, which is struggling over seat-sharing.
