Ahead of the opposition INDIA bloc Coordination Committee’s scheduled meeting in Patna on Thursday, the alliance partners’ demand for a major chunk of seats have strengthened reports of disquiet in the alliance over seat sharing ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.

Top leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress Party, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), CPI, CPI (M) and the CPI (ML) Liberation will meet on Thursday to discuss seat sharing formula, common minimum programme and joint election campaigning to take on the ruling NDA in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls. Brainstorming on the election strategy and talks on coordination among the allies till the booth level are also on the agenda.

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However, the alliance partners’ demand for bigger seat share might pose a challenge to the alliance’s future.

On Tuesday the CPI (ML) Liberation staked claim on 45 seats, indicating its position to be strengthened within the alliance before the upcoming assembly elections. VIP chief Mukesh Sahni claimed 60 seats saying that his party can influence poll outcomes in more than 150 constituencies.

Congress party, which had contested on 90 seats in 2020, has been demanding 100 seats.

CPI (ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told media persons in Patna on Tuesday that the party is preparing to contest elections on 40 to 45 assembly seats. He said that in the coming time, there will be talks on the agenda of the Mahagathbandhan and seat adjustments.

The party had contested on 19 seats in the Bihar assembly polls 2020, out of which it won 12. On the basis of this performance, it is demanding more than double the seats this time. It would be difficult to ignore the demand of the CPI (ML) Liberation, a key Left party and the third-largest constituent of the INDIA bloc in Bihar, after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

While demanding 60 seats, Mukesh Sahni claimed that his party will win at least 40 seats and will play an important role in government formation.

Besides demanding a huge number of seats, Sahni shocked the INDIA alliance partners saying, “If Prime Minister Narendra Modi grants reservation to the Nishad community in Bihar, he would even give his life for him.” This statement is being considered a big setback for the INDIA bloc as Sahni has a history of political flip-flops.

In 2020, Sahni left the Grand Alliance accusing Tejashwi of ‘betrayal’ and joined the NDA. He returned to the INDIA Alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when RJD gave him three parliamentary seats of Gopalganj, Motihari and Jhanjharpur. Now Sahni’s demand for 60 seats has created tension in the alliance.

Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru has been issuing confusing statements about Tejashwi Yadav’s leadership. The Congress leadership has never said that it has no objection to Tejashwi Yadav being made the chief ministerial face of the alliance, giving a hint that it may go alone if the RJD does not agree for a respectable number of seats.