Tussle between Congress, RJD over Darbhanga and Madhubani seats

PATNA: Darbhanga parliamentary constituency is the bone of contention between Mahagathbandhan partners RJD and Congress. RJD wants to field Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi, who has been four-time Darbhanga MP and lost to Kirti Jha Azad of BJP in 2014. Kirti recently joined Congress with the promise of getting its ticket from that seat itself, sources said.
Earlier, Aurangabad caused much discontent between the two Mahagathbandhan partners as RJD allotted the seat to HAM(S) of Jitan Ram Manjhi while Congress wanted it for Nikhil Kumar, a former MP from there.
Calling the Darbhanga seat as “Ek anaar sau bimaar”, RJD national vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said discussions were going on and an agreement was likely to be reached soon. However, senior Grand Alliance (GA) leaders said this seat would further sour the relation between RJD and Congress.
Kirti, who left BJP, is not in a mood for any barter. The former cricketer, who won from Darbhanga in the 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections, in fact, has been campaigning in the constituency even though the seat has yet not been allotted to any partner party.
Even RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is not ready to give Darbhanga to his alliance partners, sources said, adding Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) head Mukesh Sahni had earlier wanted that seat, but he finally settled for Khagaria.
For the GA, Madhubani has its set of problems as well. Congress has been insisting on its former MP and Union minister Shakeel Ahmad, who had won from there in 1998 and 2004. RJD has pitched for its senior Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who had lost the seat to BJP MP Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav by a margin of 18,937 votes only in 2014.
RJD’s candidate selection has confounded Congress leaders as the Lalu’s party has allotted Aurangabad and Karakat to its allies HAM(S) and RLSP. Both have their nominees from Koeri (Kushwaha) caste — Upendra Prasad from Aurangabad and Upendra Kushwaha from Karakat. As a result of it, adjusting Brahmin and Muslim candidates has now become a problem for Congress that has got nine seats to contest in Bihar.