INDIA bloc yet to seal seat deal, Tejashwi files papers

Patna: With just two days left for the nominations to close for the first phase of Bihar assembly polls, candidates from INDIA bloc constituents on Wednesday began filing nominations — with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav leading the way — even as a consensus on seat- sharing continued to elude the opposition alliance.Tejashwi, the opposition bloc’s CM face, filed his nomination from Raghopur assembly constituency in Vaishali district which he currently represents. Dressed in kurta-pyjama and sporting a ‘tilak’ on his forehead, Tejashwi was flanked by parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, and elder sister Misa Bharti, as he submitted his nomination papers at the collectorate in Hajipur, the district headquarters. A huge crowd of supporters cheered for him along the way.Scoffing at rumours that he planned to contest from two seats, Tejashwi told reporters: “The voters of Raghopur have reposed their trust in me twice, and I am going to contest only from this seat, although I have been telling the people of Bihar to think that they are voting for Tejashwi in all 243 seats.”In a post on X later, he wrote: “This nomination is not just for Tejashwi, but for change across Bihar.” He reiterated his poll promises, including 200 units of free electricity and jobs.

Lalu’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, on the other hand, did not file nomination from Mahua on Wednesday, as announced earlier.“This could be because of the message that will go out in the public as Lalu and Rabri will not be accompanying him, and will instead be by the side of their younger son in Raghopur,” said a senior RJD member.Sources said Tej Pratap, sitting MLA from Hasanpur in Samastipur, might even change his mind and pick the Mohiuddin Nagar seat in the same district.Apart from Tejashwi, five candidates of RJD, one of Congress and six candidates of CPI(ML) filed their papers on Wednesday.