Patna, Oct 18 (NationPress) The Congress party has unveiled its second list featuring five candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, amidst ongoing internal strife and allegations surrounding the ticket allocation process.

An official communication from AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal announced the nominations of Shaswat Kedar Pandey for Narkatiaganj, Mohammad Qamrul Hoda for Kishanganj, Mohammad Irfan for Kasba, Jitendra Yadav for Purnea, and Mohan Srivastava for Gaya Town.

The nomination window for these regions is set to remain open until October 20, with polling slated for November 11 in the second phase.

Previously, the Congress had disclosed 48 candidates in its initial list.

However, the party is under intense scrutiny from within the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) due to delays in seat-sharing discussions, leading to a lack of clarity on numerous constituencies as the first phase of nominations concluded.

Internal unrest escalated following an incident where Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru was confronted by party workers at Patna airport earlier this week. Frustrated members accused him of mishandling ticket allocations and pointed to major irregularities in the candidate selection process.

A video depicting this incident and subsequent verbal confrontations at the Congress state office, Sadakat Ashram, also gained traction on social media recently.

To compound the chaos, Congress MP and senior figure Tariq Anwar publicly criticized the candidate selection methodology.

Anwar highlighted the case of Gajanand Shahi, known as Munna Shahi, who lost the 2020 Barbigha Assembly election by a mere 113 votes yet was not awarded a ticket this time around.

“It is astonishing that individuals who lost by margins of 28,000 to 30,000 votes have been re-nominated, while Munna Shahi, who almost succeeded, was overlooked,” Anwar stated.

He further alleged that Munna Shahi was intentionally made to lose by the administration in the previous election.

Party insiders suggest that Allavaru, who has limited political expertise and a background in the corporate sector, has been granted excessive authority over Bihar operations.

Some leaders claim that his decisions have strained the longstanding relationship with RJD, Congress's ally in the state.

As discord grows and grassroots dissatisfaction rises, Congress is under increasing pressure to mend unity and discipline within its ranks before the pivotal second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections.