The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) on Saturday, 3 October 2026, launched a sharp attack on the Congress for fielding candidates against its own Mahagathbandhan ally, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), in the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council (MLC) elections, arguing that the opposition alliance lacked coordination, strategy, and internal cohesion.

Key Allegations from the Ruling Combine

Bihar Minister Ram Kripal Yadav claimed that the INDIA Bloc had failed to maintain unity ahead of the council polls, which are being held for graduate and teacher constituencies. “I believe that this so-called INDIA Bloc has proved to be a failure. Now, there is no coordination among the RJD, Congress and other parties. The Congress has also fielded five candidates. Where is the coordination? They cannot stay together and never will,” Yadav said.

BJP spokesperson Ajay Alok went further, accusing the opposition parties of prioritising individual interests over alliance commitments. “There is no alliance or anything among them. They are arrogant. They keep cheating each other, and there is no limit to their greed. They want power by any means. If they get the opportunity, they will swallow each other like pythons,” Alok said.

JD(U) Questions Purpose of the Mahagathbandhan

JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad pointed to a pattern of declared unity yielding to ground-level competition. “It is certain to question the purpose of such an alliance. If Congress has fielded five candidates, of whom four will contest against the RJD, then it is clear that after every electoral defeat, photographs are taken and a resolve is made to fight together. But whether it is West Bengal, any other state in the country, or the latest Legislative Council election, the reality is different,” Prasad said.

JD(U) National General Secretary Shyam Rajak dismissed the Mahagathbandhan as a genuine partnership altogether. “This Mahagathbandhan is not an alliance. It is an alliance of dynastic politics, corruption and individualism,” Rajak said, adding that the grouping had even fielded candidates against Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee in the past.

BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan echoed the charge succinctly: “There is no coordination between them, no strategy and no sense of harmony.”

The Seat-Sharing Dispute at the Centre

The immediate trigger for the political salvos is a seat-sharing dispute within the Mahagathbandhan. The RJD had announced candidates for six seats ahead of the eight-seat Bihar MLC contest, while Congress subsequently declared it would contest four seats — with leaders of both parties initially describing the overlap as a ‘friendly fight.’ However, the formal announcement of five Congress candidates, four of whom would directly compete against RJD nominees, has sharpened intra-alliance tensions and handed the ruling NDA a ready political target.

Broader Pattern and What It Signals

This is not the first time seat-sharing within the Mahagathbandhan — or the wider INDIA Bloc — has broken down at the sub-national level. Critics of the alliance have repeatedly pointed to similar friction in West Bengal and other states, where professed unity at the national level has not translated into coordinated electoral strategy on the ground. Notably, the Bihar MLC elections carry symbolic weight: graduate and teacher constituencies are considered bellwethers of educated-voter sentiment in the state. How the opposition manages — or fails to manage — its internal contradictions here could shape the narrative heading into future assembly polls in Bihar.

The ruling NDA, currently led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in coalition with the BJP, is expected to consolidate its position if opposition votes are split by the Congress-RJD contest. All eyes are now on whether the Mahagathbandhan leadership intervenes to broker a last-minute seat-sharing agreement.