VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, who has been named the Mahagathbandhan’s deputy CM face, expressed confidence that their alliance will win the election and form the next government in Bihar.
File photo of Tejashwi Yadav (ANI)
The opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance in Bihar on Thursday announced former deputy chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot made the announcement during a press conference in Patna, also naming VIP chief Mukesh Sahani as the alliance’s deputy CM candidate. The Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases: November 6 and 11, with vote counting scheduled for November 14.
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“All of us sitting here have decided that in these elections, we support Tejashwi Yadav as the CM face,” Gehlot, the former Rajasthan CM, announced at the Mahagathbandhan’s joint press conference.
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“It is natural to be concerned with the situation forming in the country as well as the state. If you criticise them, you will be jailed. So, what does the country want? It is looking at Bihar which is going to polls. The situation is very serious. Be it farmers, labourers or common man, they are all troubled. People want change. We have a challenge before us, before us stands a force which is wearing a mask of democracy. The previous Mahagathbandhan was local and Tejashwi ji missed forming the government by just a few votes,” stated Gehlot.
Thanking the alliance for their trust, Tejashwi vowed to work together to oust the 20-year-old NDA government.
“We, the people of Mahagathbandhan, do not just want to form the government or become the CM, but we want to make Bihar, that is why we are together… I thank all the members of the Mahagathbandhan for showing trust in me. I want to tell all of them that I will do everything possible to live up to your expectations and together we will throw out the 20-year-old government that is currently in power,” he said.
#WATCH | #BiharElection2025 | RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan’s CM face, Tejashwi Yadav says, “…I would like to say this confidently that not 5 years, if the people of Bihar give us 20 months, Tejashwi and our Govt will complete in 20 months what these people did not do in 20… pic.x.com/gbh8cAZBMu
— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2025
Tejashwi also took a dig at the ruling alliance and the position of incumbent CM Nitish Kumar within the NDA, stating, “We have done a joint press conference. Injustice is being done to Nitish Kumar in the NDA. Not even a single joint press conference has been held. No official announcement has been made for their CM face. We have been saying from the beginning that the people of the BJP are not going to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister.”
“The BJP will not make Nitish Kumar the chief minister again, and no one else has confirmed this, but Amit Shah has stated this. The NDA has been in power for 20 consecutive years. You’ve always announced the chief ministerial candidate. Why aren’t you announcing Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate this time? After the elections, these people will destroy the JD(U) as well. The party will cease to exist,” the RJD leader alleged.
Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram reaffirmed the alliance’s unity and resolve to win. “The people of Bihar have been waiting for the elections for a long time. This election is for the youth, farmers, women, and the poor. We want to assure the people that Bihar is ready. This Mahagathbandhan will fight unitedly to win the election,” Rajesh Ram said.
He added: “Today, the INDIA alliance is united and present in front of the media. The foundation stone of the INDIA alliance was laid when Rahul Gandhi, along with all the members of the INDIA alliance, did the Voter Adhikar Yatra for almost 17 months on the issues of SIR and others.”
#WATCH | #BiharElection2025 | After announcing Tejashwi Yadav as the CM face of Mahagathbandhan, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot says, “Naturally, it was going to be Tejashwi’s name…Rahul Gandhi and everyone else had his name on their minds…that Tejashwi Yadav will be our… pic.x.com/0hgCoTq4ho
— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2025
VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, who has been named the Mahagathbandhan’s deputy CM face, expressed confidence that their alliance will win the election and form the next government in Bihar.
“I was waiting for this moment for 3.5 years. The moment has now come. Not just VIP or Mukesh Sahani, lakhs of people at the party were waiting for this. BJP broke our party and poached our MLAs. At that time, we had pledged with Ganga jal in our hands – ‘BJP ko jab tak hum todenge nahi, tab tak chhoddenge nahi’. Time has come, standing strong with Mahagathbandhan, we will form our government in Bihar and oust BJP from the state. Mahagathbandhan is united and strong. In the time to come, we will work and form our government.”
In 2020 Bihar assembly elections, RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) were part of Grand Alliance while VIP had contested as a constituent of NDA. NDA had won 2020 Bihar assembly elections and bagged 125 seats while Grand Alliance could fetch only 110 seats. After differences with NDA leadership, VIP president Mukesh Sahni had resigned as Minister from the government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
RJD had contested 144 seats in the last assembly elections winning 75 while Congress contested 70 seats winning 19. CPI (ML) had contested 19 seats winning 12 while CPI and CPI(M) had contested 6 and 4 seats, winning 2 seats each.
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