Patna: The ongoing difficulty within the Grand Alliance to achieve consensus on seat sharing is now being compounded by open revolts from ticket aspirants within the constituent parties, following similar discontent reported in the Congress camp.
The latest challenge comes from within the RJD, where senior leader Ritu Jaiswal has launched a direct campaign against the party leadership’s decision to deny her a ticket for the Parihar assembly constituency in Sitamarhi.
The RJD opted to award the Parihar ticket to Smita Purbe, the daughter-in-law of party president Lalu Prasad’s close confidante, Ramchandra Purbe, a move that has clearly ignited the deep dissatisfaction now boiling over into a full-scale rebellion.
‘Conscience Does Not Accept’: Jaiswal Defies Leadership
Ritu Jaiswal formalized her defiance on social media, sharing a message addressed to the people of Parihar and making her intentions unequivocally clear.
Writing on the social media platform, Jaiswal laid out her principled stand against the party’s mandate:
“My conscience does not accept contesting the assembly elections from any constituency other than Parihar. Therefore, I have clearly informed the party leadership that if the party does not change its decision due to any compulsion, I will contest the election from Parihar as an independent candidate.”
Jaiswal’s decision to contest independently creates a significant headache for the RJD, forcing a division of the party’s vote bank in a crucial constituency. Her direct challenge and public message suggest that despite the party’s final decision on candidate selection, the internal fissures over who gets to represent the RJD are far from resolved, posing a fresh obstacle to the Grand Alliance’s unity ahead of the polls.
