5 hrs ago
Tejashwi Says Separate Bihar Council Polls Are Conventional
Tejashwi Yadav said opposition parties in Bihar have often run separately in Legislative Council elections.
This came after the Congress and his party, the RJD, announced candidates for some of the same seats.
Yadav said this does not mean the INDIA bloc is breaking apart.
The Congress also said it had a reason for choosing its own candidates.
Eight council seats are due to be contested on October 23.
Yadav said opposition MPs plan to march in protest on October 6 over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
He also said his family was following a court case in Delhi and accused the central government of targeting them.
Tejashwi Yadav said INDIA bloc parties have traditionally contested Bihar Legislative Council polls separately.
Congress and the RJD announced candidates for five and six of the eight seats, respectively.
The council elections are scheduled for October 23.
Congress Bihar president Rajesh Ram said the party’s decision reflected workers’ sentiments and public perception.
Yadav said opposition MPs would hold a protest march on October 6 over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- Who
- RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, the Congress and the RJD.
- What
- Yadav said bloc parties have conventionally contested Bihar Legislative Council polls separately, amid separate candidate announcements.
- Where
- Bihar; Yadav spoke to reporters in Patna after returning from Delhi.
- When
- The report is dated October 3; the council polls are scheduled for October 23, and the planned protest march is October 6. No year is specified.
- Why
- Yadav said separate contests are customary for these elections and denied that the candidate announcements showed a rift in the INDIA bloc.
Separate candidacies reflect convention
Parties advance their own electoral claims
Meaning of separate candidate announcements
Separate candidacies reflect convention
Tejashwi Yadav said Left, Congress and RJD parties have traditionally contested graduates’, teachers’ and local-body representatives’ council elections separately, and denied that the current arrangements indicated an INDIA bloc rift.
Parties advance their own electoral claims
Congress Bihar president Rajesh Ram said the party’s decision reflected its workers’ sentiments and public perception that Congress is emerging as the principal challenger to the BJP.
Key facts
- Council seats
- Eight
- Poll date
- October 23
- RJD candidates announced
- Six seats
- Congress candidates announced
- Five seats
- Planned protest march
- October 6; Yadav said opposition MPs would participate
- Court hearing
- Yadav had attended a hearing in Delhi concerning the alleged IRCTC hotel scam case
Quotes
Tejashwi Yadav
RJD national working president and former Bihar deputy chief minister
“Whether it is the graduates’ constituency elections, teachers’ constituency elections or elections for people’s representatives in local bodies, the Left, Congress and the RJD have always contested elections separately.”
theprint.in
“Had we been in the BJP, we would have been treated as Raja Harishchandra (a symbol of truth), but since we are fighting the BJP, the ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department are after us. That won’t make any difference.”
theprint.in
Sources
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