The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday took a swipe at the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, pointing to what it called “open infighting” within the opposition bloc. The remarks came after a poster for the alliance’s scheduled press conference prominently featured RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was conspicuously missing.
Bihar BJP, in a post on X, mocked the alliance, claiming the poster revealed widening cracks between its partners.“There is now open infighting within the grand alliance. First, Rahul Gandhi did not consider Tejashwi as the chief ministerial face. Now, Tejashwi has made Rahul Gandhi vanish from the poster. This poster itself is the announcement of the grand alliance’s breakup,” the party wrote.
In addition, Bihar BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari also weighed in, highlighting the absence of Rahul Gandhi’s image.“No poster of Rahul Gandhi at Mahagathbandhan’s scheduled PC at 11 am. Rahul Gandhi’s leadership snubbed by Tejashwi Yadav and his supporters! A Congress-RJD Mahabharat is underway within the Mahagathbandhan,” he posted on X.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also took to X, sharing the poster and questioning whether it was an attempt to sideline the Congress leader. “Joint PC? But only one picture. Rahul Gandhi & Congress ka ‘samman chori’. Showed Congress & Rahul his place?” he wrote, referring to the BJP’s latest taunt, ‘samman chori’ (theft of respect), a play on Congress’ earlier charge of ‘vote chori’ against the BJP and the Election Commission. Later, Poonawalla escalated the attack, alleging that Congress was now battling ‘ticket chori’ (ticket theft) allegations.“So it’s not just ‘samman chori’ that Congress is grappling with (Tejashwi pic on joint PC poster and Rahul Gandhi deleted). Now ‘ticket chori’ allegations hit Congress, especially key members of Rahul Gandhi’s team. Earlier, Congress MLA Afaq Alam said tickets were sold for cash. In RJD too, a sitting MLA made the same charge,” he claimed.
Congress leader Udit Raj brushed off the BJP’s remarks, insisting that Rahul Gandhi would play a central role in the alliance’s Bihar campaign.“Rahul Gandhi is going to be the main person to hold election campaigns in Bihar for RJD and others. We should not go on these photos. Pradeep Bhandari will get an answer when the time is right,” said Udit Raj.
The controversy over the poster comes amid ongoing difficulties within the Mahagathbandhan over seat-sharing for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Unlike the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which has finalised its seat distribution, the opposition bloc, comprising the Congress, RJD, Left parties (CPI, CPI-ML Liberation, CPI-M) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), has yet to reach a definitive agreement. With the deadline for filing nominations for the second phase now over, several constituencies could witness “friendly contests” between alliance partners due to the unresolved seat-sharing formula.
Attempting to quell speculation about an internal rift, Congress leader Pawan Khera dismissed the BJP’s claims as baseless and irrelevant. “Let the opposition say whatever they want to say, but there was never a clash between us (Mahagathbandhan)... Is this (Tejashwi Yadav's photo on the poster) a relevant issue? Does this issue make any sense to the youth of Bihar?” said Khera. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Bihar on 24 October, Khera added, “He can come, how does that make a difference? Bihar will treat some people as guests, and it will expect other people to form its government.”
