New Delhi, Oct 18 (NationPress) Congress MP Tariq Anwar has voiced his concerns regarding the current uncertainty surrounding seat-sharing within the Mahagathbandhan ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. He emphasized that discussions about 'friendly fights' among alliance partners for various seats create a misleading narrative for the public.

Anwar pointed out that this confusion should have been resolved by now, especially given that the nomination process for the first phase has already wrapped up.

Despite the conclusion of nominations for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections on Friday, no formal announcements have been made regarding seat-sharing among the Mahagathbandhan coalition.

So far, the Congress is the only party to have released its initial list of 48 candidates, which was unveiled on Thursday evening.

While other coalition partners, such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), have not yet published their candidate lists, several leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, have already submitted their nominations.

The coalition partners continued to allocate tickets right up until the nomination deadline for the first phase, leading to instances where both the Congress and RJD are contesting against each other in at least seven constituencies. Leaders from the alliance have minimized this situation by referring to them as 'friendly fights.'

Speaking to IANS, Anwar stated, 'There seems to be a communication breakdown, and there is still time for candidates to withdraw. Until then, we will strive to unify everyone. Some of these occurrences stem from internal factionalism, but we have always participated in elections together, and we are hopeful about resolving these matters.'

Disagreeing with the concept of 'friendly contests,' the Congress MP remarked, 'In my opinion, there is no room for a 'friendly' contest. What purpose does an alliance serve then? If there is an alliance, it should embody unity; otherwise, parties should run independently. Therefore, while we may have friendly competitions in eight constituencies and stay united in others, this sends a misleading impression to the public.'

He also noted that the delay in finalizing seat-sharing arrangements highlights a lack of coordination within the alliance.

'Everyone was aware that elections were upcoming and that there were two coalitions. Discussions should have been organized accordingly. By now, the seats should have been finalized and there should not have been any uncertainties in either alliance,' he concluded.