- 7 weeks ago
This edition of Newstrack focusses on the escalating crisis within Bihar's Mahagathbandhan, with leaders like Mukesh Sahni of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), and partners Congress and RJD, deadlocked over a seat-sharing formula for the 2025 Assembly elections.
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00:00No handshake, no deal, no bandhan within the Mahagat bandhan so far
00:04because the seat sharing deal is yet to be finalized.
00:08The nomination deadline looms large.
00:11It's tomorrow less than 24 hours to go essentially
00:14for candidates to file their nomination.
00:17And there's a very small window now for the alliance to get their act together
00:22to go ahead and announce what their seat sharing deal is going to be.
00:26Otherwise many of the candidates will stand to lose out
00:29with challenges in their nomination.
00:31That will mean that that seat goes uncontested
00:34which is why right now the focus is on whether they'll be able to crack
00:37some sort of formula or not.
00:39But I admit that, the news break that's coming in
00:41is that VIP's Mukesh Sani has written to Rahul Gandhi
00:44urging him to intervene to say that VIP remains in the Mahagat bandhan.
00:49So Mukesh Sani is saying that Rahul Gandhi must intervene
00:52to ensure that the party doesn't leave the Mahagat bandhan.
00:56In that letter that we've accessed here on India Today,
00:59Mukesh Sani has said that he is committed to the India bloc ideology
01:03and that seats don't matter for him.
01:06He says, I first wanted 35, I brought that down to 18 plus 2.
01:10This letter which is with us here on India Today,
01:13the VIP chief says there's misinformation
01:15that his party is not participating in seat sharing talks.
01:18So he wants Rahul Gandhi to intervene now
01:21to kind of clear out all of the confusion and chaos.
01:24Mind you today, Rahul Gandhi and Malik Arjun Kharge
01:27have had a conversation with Lalu Yadav
01:29to try and go ahead and iron out all differences.
01:36Okay, let's bring in at this point Rahul Gautam.
01:39He's joining us live from Delhi with more details on this.
01:42Rahul, take us through the details of this particular letter
01:45that Mukesh Sani has written to Rahul Gandhi.
01:47What is he trying to convey here?
01:49That he wants to stay in the alliance
01:50or that he wants more seats?
01:53Well, Achita, this letter was written around 11 a.m. this morning
01:56and we all know that how there are several apprehensions
01:59that Mukesh Sani will leave Mark at Bandhan.
02:02But in this letter which has been accessed by India Today,
02:06Mukesh Sani clearly says that
02:08that he is very much part of India block
02:12and in fact, he has already come down from 35 seats to 18 seats.
02:17In fact, he also urged Rahul Gandhi to please ensure
02:20that VIP remains intact with Mahagat Bandhan.
02:24This letter was what we are learning from our sources.
02:27It was written after intervention of Dipankar Bhattacharya,
02:31who is the chief of CPIML,
02:32who in fact spoke with Rahul Gandhi
02:35that we should retain VIP
02:38and should ensure that he stays with Mahagat Bandhan.
02:42And after this point of time,
02:44VIP Mukesh Sani, he wrote this letter
02:47and in fact, in a way,
02:50he pledged his commitment towards India block ideology.
02:53And as far as India block is concerned,
02:57you can expect now that anytime
02:59the list, the first list of Congress party
03:02would be released.
03:03And one thing is very important.
03:05You know, I'm keeping my fingers crossed
03:06because I can assure you
03:08that almost in every broadcast of the news track
03:10yesterday, day before,
03:12we were hearing any moment now.
03:13What's changed now?
03:14What actually makes us believe
03:17or makes you believe, Rahul,
03:18as someone who covers the Congress
03:19that it's going to happen this time?
03:22Well, you know, we all know that time is running out
03:24and 3 p.m. is the last deadline tomorrow
03:27when the nomination will end for the first place.
03:31So therefore, you know,
03:32it is imperative upon Mahagat Bandhan
03:35alliance partners to at least release the list
03:37or at least give us the numbers
03:39as to who is contesting on how many seats
03:42and, you know,
03:43which seats have been going to contest it by who.
03:46So this clearly,
03:47there seems to be confusion prevailing
03:49at this point of time.
03:50But at least at this point of time,
03:53Congress is claiming
03:54that everything is sorted between RJD and Congress
03:57and anytime soon now,
03:59our list would be released.
04:00And that's why you see that RJD and Congress,
04:02they both are releasing symbols already.
04:04Correct.
04:05Congress has already released to 18 candidates
04:07and similarly,
04:09RJD is also releasing symbols to their candidates.
04:11So at this point of time,
04:13they are trying to, you know,
04:15bring in a consensus on board
04:16as far as Mahagat Bandhan is concerned.
04:18But you rightly pointed out
04:18that we are also getting dates,
04:21you know, every day
04:22that today we are going to release the list.
04:24But that's not happening.
04:25And that's clearly,
04:27you know,
04:27as a failure for Mahagat Bandhan
04:29because in terms of optics,
04:31they are clearly lagging behind NDA
04:33who has already released list
04:36and they have declared all 243 candidates.
04:39So as far as,
04:40in terms of critical messaging,
04:42it seems that Mahagat Bandhan
04:43has clearly failed
04:44in sending a message
04:45of opposition unity in Bihar.
04:47You're right.
04:48It's terrible messaging.
04:50You know,
04:50it's optics matter in politics,
04:53especially in election season.
04:55And right now,
04:56it's terrible optics
04:57because it suggests essentially
04:59that the opposition alliance
05:00doesn't have their act together.
05:02And that's why they're cutting it so fine
05:04that we're just less than 24 hours,
05:06honestly,
05:07to go for their deadline.
05:08We're seeing all of the stock
05:09of anytime now list to be out.
05:12But I'll ask Rahul
05:14as well as Piyush
05:15to stay on with us.
05:17Let's break down for our viewers
05:18all the updates
05:19that have come in
05:20in the last few hours.
05:21I'll highlight again
05:22that tomorrow's the last day
05:23of a nomination filing
05:24and there's still no sign
05:25of a seat-sharing formula.
05:27The alliance, however,
05:28says we're confident we'll win,
05:30but that the seat-sharing issue
05:32is something they're still figuring out.
05:34And that's because
05:34there's a deadlock
05:35on really who gets how much,
05:38who gets how many seats.
05:40Now, the questions
05:41that come to the fore here
05:42is has the Mahagarbandan
05:43left it too late
05:44to actually go ahead
05:45and seal the deal?
05:47Is the alliance's unity?
05:49Just for sure.
05:50Because when it comes down to it,
05:51you saw all of these pictures
05:52of Rahul and Tejasui together,
05:54the Voter Radhikar Yatra
05:56where you had both of them throughout.
05:58But when it comes down
05:59to the seat-sharing deal,
06:00they've been unable
06:01to just get together,
06:02sit down,
06:03put their heads together
06:04and figure out
06:04what's going wrong.
06:06Now, will ego clashes
06:08within the opposition
06:09cost them the election?
06:11Optics matter.
06:12This isn't the best of optics.
06:13Can a divided alliance
06:15really take on
06:15a united NDA?
06:17Just contrast the fact
06:18that the NDA
06:18has not just announced
06:20a seat-sharing deal,
06:21they've gone ahead
06:21and announced their candidates
06:23for all of those seats as well.
06:24And on the other hand,
06:25here, there's still confusion
06:26of who's contesting
06:27which party
06:28from which seat.
06:30Are smaller allies
06:31losing out
06:32in this tug-of war?
06:34In the Mahagarbandan itself,
06:35one of the big issues
06:36is over the VIP.
06:38The entrance of the MLA
06:41and the NDA
06:42doesn't have to
06:43make a government
06:45of the parliament
06:46and we need to
06:48make a government
06:49and work
06:50to make a government
06:51in this region.
06:52Okay, Piyush Mishra is getting us the latest updates as well from Patna.
07:15Piyush, you know, the question that also comes up here is what will happen with the likes
07:21of the VIP? Will they be given what they want? What's really the sticking point as far as
07:27the VIP's demands are concerned? Are we going to, when that list comes out later today,
07:32see an RGD-Congress alliance and still see a question mark over the others, the smaller
07:36allies?
07:42Well, Lakshita, as far as Mukesh Sane's VIP is concerned, what we are told is that he is
07:47already in touch with Rahul Gandhi. He's requesting Rahul Gandhi to intervene. Now,
07:51in the seat-sharing formula and announce the final formula for Mahakad Pandan. But today,
07:58we also spoke to various BJP leaders and Samrat Chaudhary, while he was filing his nomination,
08:02we spoke to him about the kiosk which is there in Mahakad Pandan. He said that, okay, we have
08:08had our seat-sharing formula decided. We have also decided who will contest on which seat.
08:13But if Mukesh Sane wants to support us without taking part in any kind of seat allocation,
08:20then he can do so. So, you know, at such times, your opposition always, you know, take such
08:26jibe at you. And that's what Samrat Chaudhary is now doing. As far as NDA is concerned, they have
08:31already decided, you know, all their seats. They have already announced the candidates
08:37on all these seats. We were seeing as to how the NDA was struggling to announce their candidates
08:42in the initial phase. But now, dust is settled. And now, NDA leaders are also hitting the ground.
08:47So, let's talk about, and Piyush, stay with me. Let's talk about what really could happen
08:51next, the possible scenarios of what we could see in the Mahakad Pandan, figuring out their
08:56seat-sharing deal. First, maybe the VIP chooses to exit the Mahakad Pandan, in which case then
09:03you will see a redistribution of the proposed handful of seats, which is about 15 to 18 is
09:10what our sources tell us. That will be redistributed. I mean, they are RJD and the Congress. But it
09:14will be a setback if VIP chooses to leave. Possibility number two is that the Congress may have to
09:19compromise on seats and, importantly, on the CM phase. Because one of the other contentious
09:24issues is that while you have every party of the Mahakad Pandan agreeing that they will go ahead
09:29and endorse Tejas V. Adif as the CM phase, the Congress so far has refused to commit to that.
09:35So, they could just concede and go ahead and project Tejas V. Adif as the CM phase. But for that,
09:41the RJD also may have to step down. So, another possibility is that the RJD may actually go ahead
09:47and convince the Congress to settle for the Deputy Chief Minister post. So far, what we're hearing
09:53is that the RJD doesn't want any announcement over Deputy CM post. But could that actually
09:59change? I want to bring in Rahul Gautam on this. He tracks, of course, the Congress for us very
10:03closely. So, Rahul, I want to understand from you that if there's a compromise formula worked out,
10:08would that factor in the Congress perhaps agreeing to endorse Tejas V. Adif as the CM phase of the
10:15Mahakad Pandan?
10:19Well, what we're learning from our sources is that, Akshita, in Ambal, it's not a problem for
10:23the Congress party. And broadly, there is a concession between RJD and Congress that
10:29Congress will be contesting somewhere around 60 seats. Now, the problem is that multiple seats
10:34are being contested, are being demanded by both RJD and Congress. For example, there's a seat called
10:40Kail Gaon, Jale, Narkati Aghanj. Now, these seats are being demanded both by Congress and RJD. And that
10:49has become a board of contention between the two parties. And that's why you see this delay is
10:55happening. And that's why the broader consensus has been that you please release, you know, symbols to
11:00your candidates on which there has been a broader consensus. That's why you see RJD and Congress,
11:05they both are distributing symbols. See, we have to really understand that if VIP exits from Mahakad
11:11Pandan, then Congress is prepared to contest on around 70 to 75 seats. But if he's going to be
11:18accommodated and adjusted, that Congress will not go below 60 to 61. As they are saying that if a party
11:25does not even have one single MP or MLA is going to get 18 seats or 20 seats, then we are as a party,
11:33national party, you know, with 100 Lok Sabha MPs, 25 Rajas Sabha MPs, 17 MLAs in Bihar Assembly,
11:40then we at least deserve 60 seats. And that has become a, you know, bone of contention. Now,
11:45we are learning from our sources that, you know, the major issues have already been sorted out between
11:50RJD and Congress. And in fact, if anytime now, you know, maybe tonight or maybe tomorrow,
11:57the seat sharing formula would be, would be announced. But clearly, as I was telling you
12:02earlier also, political messaging is something which they have clearly failed because we all know
12:08that how numbers are already out. We all know candidates there. But yes, as far as Mahakad Pandan
12:13is concerned, everything is still in the air. You know, they've hit, the sense I get, Rahul,
12:17is that they've hit the panic button now. They should have ideally pressed the panic button
12:2148 hours ago. Because not just this is terrible messaging, it also, you know, brings things down
12:27to the wire. If there is any problem with a candidate's nomination form, there's so little
12:32time for him or her to tweak it, that it could lead to many seats not actually having a candidate
12:38as well. And these are issues that haven't been factored in at all for now. Thanks very
12:43much, Piyush, Rahul, for joining us on this broadcast. Rahul tells us in some time from
12:48now, very shortly, we can expect that there will be a seat sharing deal that's released.
12:53Well, the Mahakad Pandan will have to do it because 3pm tomorrow is the cutoff for nominations
12:58to be filed. And so if they miss that deadline, means they don't have any candidates at all in
13:04most of the seats. So they know full well that the next few hours, perhaps tomorrow morning,
13:09is the last time when they can actually go ahead and figure out whatever issues they have
13:14as far as the seat sharing deal is concerned. But focusing on Bihar, let's get you the biggest
13:20interview this political and this election season. The nominations for the first phase of
13:25Bihar elections on the 6th of November, that's when the first phase happens. It officially closes
13:31tomorrow. So the election fever is upon us. And we spoke to Amit Shah. This was an exclusive
13:37at the Bihar Panchayat. Here's an excerpt. When Amit Shah was asked about who will be the
13:43chief minister if the NDA comes to power, he keeps up the CM suspense. Listen up.
13:47Bihar Panchayat says that you are fighting in 101 seats. You are fighting in 102 seats. Because
14:00whether you are 39 Chirag Paswan, you are 6 Maanjijiji, you are 6 Kuchwaa, they are all with you.
14:06So, look, Congress Party has always been a rule of being punished by little people. If any party
14:20is against their big party, I believe that it is a little fault of being punished by little
14:23parties. And Congress has only done this with the start. That's why many of the
14:29I don't want to see the Congress in Bihar, the Uttar Pradesh, the Tamil Nadu Congress, the Bangal Congress, the Bangal Congress, the Bangal Congress.
14:46I don't want to see the Congress in Bihar, the Bangal Congress.
15:16I don't want to see the Congress in Bihar.
15:46I don't want to see the Congress.
15:48I don't want to see the Congress in Bihar.
15:53So I am fighting, and I am fighting for our fight, Nithish Kumar Ji.
15:59And if your leadership has become more, then...
16:02Now it is more.
16:04Now it is more.
16:07You are giving a big headline, I am feeling like that.
16:09No, no, you are not understanding.
16:11Now it is more, but Nithish Kumar Ji is more.
16:14Yes, like last time you had made them.
16:17And they were on record,
16:19Nawiz Ji has also said that he was saying,
16:21don't do it, but BJP has made it.
16:23What is this, what you have done in Maharashtra,
16:26that can be done?
16:27Look, Anjana Ji,
16:29Radniti cannot be able to do for your TRP.
16:34You are saying,
16:36what do you do?
16:38I told you that we are more,
16:40then we are also made.
16:42You asked what will happen in the future.
16:44So I explained to you,
16:46everyone will sit with the child,
16:48all will sit with the child,
16:49all will sit with the child,
16:50all will sit with the child,
16:51and so on.
16:52Nithish Kumar,
16:53how much trust is your trust factor?
16:55How is your trust factor?
16:56And I am asking for that.
16:57Have you ever told you two times,
16:58sir?
16:59Or you?
17:02Look, Nithish Kumar Ji,
17:04that,
17:05yes,
17:06that,
17:07there's a lot of senators,
17:09from the board of quando.
17:11And the whole of them of their life is not credible in Congress.
17:16Even if they are currently in Congress,
17:17has never been in Congress, and the record of living in Congress is not long enough for
17:27half a year. So I believe that if we have to do this person's life, then we should
17:36take a big part of it. And we have a great society, and we have a great society that
17:42we have a great society, and we have a great society, and we have a great society, and
17:49we have a great society, and we have a great society, and we have a great society. So I
17:54believe that the majority of the Bihar Party is the same as the people of Bihar.
18:03Let's get to another India Today exclusive. Prashant Kishore, founder of the Jansuraj Party,
18:08spoke to India Today, the Bihar Panchayat, where he was asked about what chance really
18:14that Jansuraj has in the upcoming elections. Here's what he had to say.
18:18What he had to say.
18:24Why do you think that India will not see Tijasvi, but Prashant Kishore will see Tijasvi,
18:30because the last time he was still winning, Tijasvi?
18:32The first thing, the last time he was still winning, not winning.
18:36There was one factor of Chirag Pashwan, which you can call Black Swan event, which
18:41has always been in life. Strategically, the party of Chirag Pashwan
18:46only fought on the Jadiyu seats, which, where the Jadiyu had to win, there,
18:53the king has won. If you will minus Tijasvi in the 74 seats, then the party's real
19:00strength is, 25-30 seats, that is what you can see. And this is just my hypothetical
19:07visualization. That's what you can see in the future. That's what you can see in the
19:10future. That's the same people-seater seats, which is 25-35
19:15of the Jansurajans. This time, there is no responsibility. This time there is no responsibility.
19:22No one is fighting against this, who is only with Tijasvi. So, the party's share of
19:28the party, that is 25, 22 and 30 have to keep. If people are doing that 25-4 people
19:36say that they are talking about, they say that 25-35 people are giving you. Then the
19:41people say that 25-35 people are giving you. Even if 25-35 people are giving you, the
19:46people are giving 25-35 people, that 25 people are giving you. If their vote is 25-35 people are
19:515% of the government.
19:53So, see where will they be?
19:55Now, 5% of the government will add to the government.
19:59Now, the logic of logic is that I said that
20:03the Jdu will not come from 25 seats,
20:05how are they doing?
20:07We are not doing any survey for this.
20:09The Jdu was 42 seats last time,
20:13and Nithith Kumar was more in the situation than today,
20:15more in the situation,
20:17more in the situation,
20:19in the situation.
20:21One of the Jdu's party,
20:23in the 110 seats,
20:25without any preparation,
20:27went to 42.
20:29Now, in those 110 seats,
20:31there have been a lot of preparation.
20:33We have been with the preparation.
20:35Nithith Kumar,
20:37first of all,
20:39is an anti-incumbency.
20:41So, we will go up to 42,
20:43or we will go down to 42?
20:45Common sense.
20:47We will go down.
20:49We will go down.
20:51You can see,
20:53who are fighting here,
20:55there is a loss of loss.
20:57There is a loss of loss.
20:59There is no loss of loss.
21:01No one can't save.
21:03In a small way,
21:05the seat will not be able to put the seat.
21:07I can say that Nithith Kumar will be less than 25,
21:09and the Bhajjpah will be less than 25,
21:11and the Bhajjpah will be less than 24 or 75 seats,
21:15the number will be less than 24.
21:17After that,
21:18you will get to India,
21:19whatever it is.
21:21And when you are facing Tijaswi atwko,
21:23if someone had come back,
21:24the Chiaraak wala factor would take off the loss.
21:26Yes,
21:27they will have been at 25 to 35.
21:29Yeah.
21:30We should have a seat more than 25.
21:31The RGD must have equal siept.
21:32And that's all we have time for this edition of Newstruck.
21:34hope we have time for this edition of Newstruck. Thanks very much for tuning in.
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