A peculiar predicament has engulfed the ‘Grand Alliance’ (Mahagathbandhan) in Bihar’s Gaura-Bauram Assembly constituency, located in Darbhanga district. Initially, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Afzal Ali Khan was granted the ticket to contest. However, a last-minute seat-sharing agreement saw the constituency reallocated to an ally, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).
In an act of outright defiance, Mr. Khan has rejected calls from RJD chief Lalu Prasad to surrender the party symbol. He remains steadfast in his decision to campaign as the official RJD candidate for Gaura-Bauram, setting up a direct confrontation not only with the opposition BJP but also with the designated VIP candidate from his own alliance.
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Local residents describe the unfolding situation as “bizarre,” expressing widespread confusion among voters.
When contacted on October 23, Mr. Khan asserted, “I am contesting the election on the RJD ticket, seeking votes as a ‘Grand Alliance’ candidate. I am not concerned with other candidates; you should ask the constituents themselves.”
Remarkably, his social media channels still portray him as a ‘Grand Alliance’-backed candidate, actively campaigning for the seat.
When pressed about Santosh Sahani, the VIP candidate and younger brother of party founder Mukesh Sahani, Mr. Khan feigned ignorance, stating, “I have not heard his name. I do not know him.”
He further dismissed questions about potential calls from the RJD leadership asking him to withdraw after the seat-sharing deal was finalized. “Have you heard that conversation between us?” he retorted, insisting, “No one has asked me to return the ticket.”
When confronted with the possibility of voter confusion in distinguishing the true ‘Grand Alliance’ candidate from the BJP’s Sujit Kumar, Mr. Khan declared, “I am the genuine ‘Grand Alliance’ candidate on the ground, and I acknowledge no one else. Other parties’ candidates are also vying for the seat, aren’t they?”
While Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) has also nominated Mohd Iftikhar Alam, local voters suggest the real contest is a two-way race between Afzal Ali Khan (RJD) and Sujit Kumar (BJP).
“The real battle here is solely between the RJD and BJP candidates,” remarked Prabhakar Kumar, 38, who runs a photocopying shop near the Gaura-Bauram Block Development Office. He added, “The VIP made a critical error by fielding Mukesh Sahani’s brother, Santosh Sahani, as he stands no chance in this Brahmin and Muslim-dominated constituency.”
Mr. Kumar, belonging to an Extremely Backward Class (EBC) community, politely declined to be photographed, instead suggesting a picture of the nearby dilapidated Block Development Office. Inside the compound, a few vehicles were parked, and a lone policeman was observed dozing on a stool.
“Even within my own Muslim community, he has no prospects,” commented Julus Miyan from the neighboring shop, referring to JSP candidate Mr. Alam. “I’m puzzled as to why he’s even in the race. There must be a broader political strategy behind his candidacy,” Mr. Miyan speculated.
Meanwhile, the VIP’s Mr. Sahani has announced his plans to pursue legal action, intending to petition the court against election officials. He alleges their failure to disqualify Afzal Ali Khan’s candidacy, despite RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s explicit request for his withdrawal.
Looking back at the 2020 Assembly elections, Mr. Khan lost to Swarna Singh, then a VIP candidate, by over 7,000 votes. Ms. Singh later joined the BJP in May 2022, along with two other VIP MLAs. This time around, she has not been given a ticket, with the BJP instead backing Mr. Kumar.
Historically, the Gaura-Bauram Assembly constituency has seen victories for the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in both the 2010 and 2015 Assembly elections.
The Gaura-Bauram constituency, located on the Darbhanga-Saharsa district border approximately 45 km from Darbhanga town, is characterized by a diverse electorate. Key demographic groups include upper caste Brahmins, Muslims, Yadavs, Mallahs (the community of Mr. Sahani), and various other Extremely Backward Class (EBC) voters.
Encompassing three blocks (Guara-Bauram, Kiratpur, and Biraul) and 12 village panchayats, this region is part of the Darbhanga Lok Sabha constituency. The Kamala river, flowing through the area, sustains its predominantly agrarian economy.
“The most significant challenge facing this area is the distressing migration of local youth,” stated Baburam Shah, a sexagenarian voter and owner of a cloth shop on the Gaura-Bauram-Saharsa highway. He also observed, “The BJP currently holds an advantage over other candidates in this constituency.”
RJD sources reveal that when Mr. Khan failed to return the party symbol, Lalu Prasad formally requested the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer to disregard his nomination. However, by then, Mr. Khan had already submitted his nomination papers in Gaura-Bauram on October 17 and subsequently became unreachable. Election Commission authorities later informed the RJD leadership that Afzal Ali Khan’s nomination could not be rescinded since it had been properly filed with all necessary documentation.
“This level of confusion and disarray within the ‘Grand Alliance’ has created an absurd situation in the constituency,” remarked an RJD leader. “How can our party leader and chief ministerial candidate, Tejashwi Yadav, campaign against a candidate who is officially running under his own party’s symbol? This internal conflict will undoubtedly affect the election outcome in this constituency.”
“Afzal Ali Khan is now a rebel candidate,” declared Qari Shohaib, an RJD MLC and national general secretary of the party’s youth wing. He accused Mr. Khan of “deceiving” the party and stated unequivocally, “We no longer recognize him as the party’s official candidate.”
Despite the party’s stance, Mr. Khan maintains his defiant position. “I am the RJD candidate contesting the election, and this is very clear,” he asserted from a “far remote area” where he was campaigning.
This internal friction isn’t isolated to Gaura-Bauram. Across Bihar, the main ‘Grand Alliance’ constituents, RJD and Congress, find themselves in direct competition on five seats: Sikandra, Vaishali, Narkatiyaganj, Kahalgaon, and Sultanganj. Furthermore, the Congress is also challenging candidates from the Communist Party of India (CPI) in four constituencies: Biharsharief, Rajapakar, Bacchhwara, and Kargahar.
The ‘Grand Alliance’ seat distribution initially allocated 143 seats to the RJD, 15 to the VIP (including the contested Gaura-Bauram seat), and 61 to the Congress. The three Left parties collectively received 33 seats: the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-M-L) with 20, the Communist Party of India (CPI) with nine, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) with four.
Despite the Bihar Assembly having 243 seats, the ‘Grand Alliance’ has nominated 252 candidates, indicating “friendly contests” in nine constituencies.
Voters in the Gaura-Bauram constituency are slated to cast their ballots on November 6, with the overall Bihar Assembly election results anticipated on November 14.