Archive · 3 Oct 2026
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.
- 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.
- Where
- Bihar; Yadav spoke to reporters in Patna after returning from Delhi.
- 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.
- 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