Several youth wing members, including NSUI functionary Sudhir Sharma, addressed reporters after the Central Election Committee meeting chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge. “We want youth leadership in Bikram Assembly; we do not want just the sons of leaders,” Sharma said. Another party worker contended that “dummy candidates” were being preferred over committed workers who had canvassed in the field. These protests followed fierce discussions within the CEC convened to finalise Congress candidates and seat-sharing agreements.
The internal discontent intensified after women workers staged a sit-in outside the Congress headquarters, demanding transparency in ticket allocation and claiming that long-serving grassroots activists were being overlooked. Some raised the pledge made by Rahul Gandhi to reserve 33 per cent of tickets for women, alleging that the promise was being undermined by state-level leadership.
Allies and rivals alike have taken notice of the discord. Within the Mahagathbandhan, RJD leaders are reportedly chafing at the Congress’s insistence on 61–63 seats, a demand seen by some as ambitious given Congress’s diminished performance in prior elections. When Lalu Prasad Yadav distributed party symbols to his chosen candidates, it provoked outrage in Congress circles. Tejashwi Yadav intervened, asking those recipients to return their symbols until the alliance resolved seat allocations.
Complicating matters, CPI general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has called on RJD and Congress to adopt a realistic approach in distributing seats, pointing out that performance in past elections should inform allotments for smaller allies. Meanwhile, ideological and regional partners, including the Vikassheel Insaan Party and Left formations, are pressing for recognition and fair shares, adding strain to negotiations already pushed to the brink by candidate-level dissent.
The Mahagathbandhan’s troubles stand in sharp contrast with the relatively smoother seat-sharing announcements within the NDA. JD sources claim Nitish Kumar is fully content with the arrangement, dismissing speculation about internal friction. Yet such declarations mask undercurrents within the NDA: Union Minister Giriraj Singh publicly warned of complacency among alliance partners, citing past electoral upsets when confidence eclipsed electoral strategy.
Even Congress has begun offering glimpses of compromise. The CEC has approved around 23 candidates—mainly incumbents—as interim picks while broader negotiations continue. Observers interpret this as an attempt to placate disgruntled factions without completely ceding bargaining power.