Mahagathbandhan (Bihar)

Political alliance

This article is about the regional political alliance in Bihar. For the political alliance in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, see Mahagathbandhan (Uttar Pradesh). For the regional political alliance in Jharkhand, see Mahagathbandhan (Jharkhand).

Indian political party

Mahagathbandhan

महागठबंधन
Mahagathbandhan

Abbreviation| MGB
Leader| Tejashwi Yadav
(Leader of opposition)
Chairman| Tejashwi Yadav
(Leader of opposition)
Secretary| Md Afaque Alam
Founded| 2015; 10 years ago (2015)
Ideology| Majority:
Socialism (India)
Factions:
Social democracy[1]
Democratic socialism
Communism[2][3][4]
Political position| Big Tent
Factions:
Centre, Centre-left to far-left
Alliance| Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India)
Seats in Lok Sabha|

10 / 40

(Total-543, Bihar-40)
Seats in Rajya Sabha|

7 / 16

(Total-245, Bihar-16)
Seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly|

110 / 243

Seats in Bihar Legislative Council|

18 / 75

Number of states and union territories in government|

0 / 31

* Politics of India
* Political parties
* Elections

Mahagathbandhan, (MGB, ISO: Mahāgaṭhabaṁdhana)[5] also known as Grand Alliance, is a coalition of political parties in the Eastern state of Bihar in India, formed ahead of the 2015 Vidhan Sabha elections in Bihar. The alliance consists of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Congress (INC) and Left parties including Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation-CPIML (Liberation) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), with Tejashwi Yadav as the chairperson.

## History

[edit]

### Creation of the alliance (2015-2020)

[edit]

On 7 June 2015, Lalu Prasad Yadav announced the RJD was joining in an alliance with the JD(U) for the election.[6][7] On 13 July 2015, he led a march demanding that the central government release its findings from the Socio Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC) on caste.[8][9][10] Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan supported a comprehensive classification of caste data of SECC 2011 before its release.[11][12][13] BJP Leader Sushil Kumar Modi called for a rectification of errors in the cases of 1.46 crore people in India, including 1.75 lakh in Bihar, before releasing the caste data.[14]

On 3 August, incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declared that he would not stand in the election.[15][16] On 11 August, he announced the seat-sharing formula, according to which JD(U) and RJD will contest 100 seats each, while Congress will contest 40 seats in Bihar.[17] NCP pulled out of this alliance later.[18] On 23 September, Nitish Kumar announced the list of 242 candidates for the JDU-RJD-INC alliance.[19][20][21] OBCs were most favoured in the alliance ticket distribution plan.[22][23][24] 10% of tickets were allotted to women candidate by the alliance.[25]

Nitish Kumar was the declared chief ministerial candidate for the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). Kumar started his Har Ghar Dastak (door-to-door) campaign on 2 July.[26][27][28] Initially there were definite political overtures when both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar shared stage together in a public[29] event commemorating former chief minister Satyendra Narain Sinha's birth anniversary that witnessed veiled attacks on each other, the last time[30] they did it in public. Prashant Kishor was a key election strategist for the alliance.[31][32]

The Mahagathbandhan contested in Bihar legislative assembly elections of 2015 against Bharatiya Janata Party and its key allies Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies lost badly making the way for JD (U)+RJD+Congress to triumph with 178 out of 243 seats. The BJP and its allies managed to get only 58 seats.[33]

### Dissent and defection (2020-2022)

[edit]

After successfully winning the elections of 2015, the defection in Mahagathbandhan occurred with alleged attempt of Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders to break Janata Dal (United) elected legislators. Nitish Kumar, the then leader of JD(U) and the Chief Minister for fifth time[34] was thus forced to join the Bharatiya Janata Party and NDA once again to secure the interest of his parties.[35]

However, the entry of JD (U) made other allies of Bhartiya Janata Party embarrassed . Thus the rival party of JD (U), Rashtriya Lok Samata Party drifted away with its leader Upendra Kushwaha from the hold of NDA. The drifting away of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party created uncertainties in the camp of National Democratic Alliance over shifting of the support of Koeri caste on whom RLSP was thought to have strong hold.[36] But in 2019 General Elections the JD(U) balanced the loss incurred due to the defection of Upendra Kushwaha and Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) secured victory over the putatively put alliance of RJD+RLSP+INC+HAM+VIP parties. Subsequently, VIP and HAM switched to the NDA and the RLSP merged with JD(U).[37]

### Return to power (2022-2023)

[edit]

In August 2022, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India and Hindustan Awam Morcha joined again to form 2/3rd Majority government in Bihar Legislative Assembly.[38]

### Departure of the JD(U) (2024)

[edit]

On 28 January 2024, Janata Dal (United) officially left the Mahagathbandhan to join the National Democratic Alliance for the third time, which also ended the tenure of Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD's candidate and leader of the Mahagathbandhan, as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. The political crisis was caused by Nitish Kumar feeling "insulted" by the Mahagathbandhan and the larger Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.[39]

## Current members

[edit]

Party  | Ideology  | Legislative Assembly  | Legislative Council  | Lok Sabha

(Bihar)

|
|
|
|

| Rashtriya Janata Dal | Socialism, secularism |

72 / 243

14 / 75

4 / 40

| Indian National Congress | Social liberalism, Secularism,

Civic nationalism

17 / 243

4 / 75

4 / 40

| Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation | Marxism–Leninism |

11 / 243

1 / 75

2 / 40

| Communist Party of India | Communism, Marxism–Leninism |

2 / 243

1 / 75

| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Communism, Marxism |

2 / 243

| —
| Vikassheel Insaan Party | Social democracy, Progressivism | —  | —
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | Adivasi nationalism, Democratic socialism | —  | —
| Independents |  |

4 / 75

Total |  |

104 / 243

18 / 75

10 / 40

## Electoral performance

[edit]

### Indian general election results (in Bihar)

[edit]

Year  | Seats won/
Seats contested  | Change in seats  | Vote share (%)  | +/- (%)  | Popular vote

|
|
|
|
|

2024 |

10 / 40

|  9  | 39.21%  |  | 1,75,61,094

### Bihar State Legislative Assembly election

[edit]

Year  | Seats won/
Seats contested  | Change in seats  | Vote share (%)  | +/- (%)  | Popular vote

|
|
|
|
|

2025 | TBD  | TBD  | TBD  | TBD  | TBD

## Past members

[edit]

Party  | Base State  | Year of withdrawal

|
|

| Rashtriya Lok Samta Party | Bihar | 2019
| Hindustani Awam Morcha | Bihar | 2023
| Janata Dal (United) | Bihar | 2024

## See also

[edit]

* Mahagathbandhan (Jharkhand)
* Maha Vikas Aghadi
* Grand Democratic Secular Front
* Progressive Democratic Alliance (Bihar)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Soper, J. Christopher; Fetzer, Joel S. (2018). Religion and Nationalism in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press. pp. 200–210\. ISBN 978-1-107-18943-0.
2. ^ "General Programme of CPI(ML)". Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) website. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
3. ^ "Brief History of CPI - CPI". Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
4. ^ Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. p. 314\. ISBN 978-0-199-97489-4.
5. ^ "Post Bihar....the MGB fever". Rajya Sabha TV. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
6. ^ "Lalu, Nitish seal the deal: RJD, JD(U) form alliance for Bihar polls, seat sharing talks on cards". Firstpost. 7 June 2015.
7. ^ "Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav alliance may be a 90-seat worry for BJP". The Economic Times. 12 June 2015.
8. ^ "Lalu leads march for caste census data". The Hindu. 13 July 2015.
9. ^ "Lalu's Ultimatum to Modi Government on Caste Census Data". Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
10. ^ "Caste census data demand is 'jehad': Lalu". The Hindu. 21 July 2015.
11. ^ "'Ram Vilas Dalit face wherever you go, Jitan Ram Manjhi can be Mahadalit face'". 29 July 2015.
12. ^ "Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar to be hit hardest if caste data released: Paswan". 19 July 2015.
13. ^ "Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar to be hit hardest if caste data released: Ram Vilas Paswan". The Economic Times. 19 July 2015.
14. ^ "Caste census data to be release after error correction: Sushil Modi".
15. ^ "Won't contest Bihar polls, will devote time for campaigning, says Nitish Kumar". 3 August 2015.
16. ^ "Won't contest Bihar elections: Nitish Kumar". The Economic Times.
17. ^ "Nitish Kumar Announces Seat-Sharing Formula For Bihar Elections: JD(U)-RJD To Contest On 100 Seats Each, Congress 40". 12 August 2015.
18. ^ "Bihar elections: NCP pulls out of anti-BJP alliance, may contest alone". 13 August 2015.
19. ^ "Bihar polls: Nitish Kumar releases 'joint list' of 242 candidates, OBCs get lion's share". 23 September 2015.
20. ^ "Nitish Kumar yields, Lalu Prasad gets both his sons an Assembly ticket each". 24 September 2015.
21. ^ "Nitish-led alliance releases list of 242 candidates for Bihar polls". The Times of India. 23 September 2015.
22. ^ "OBCs most favoured in alliance plan". The Times of India. 23 September 2015.
23. ^ "In Bihar elections, it is my social combination versus yours". 7 October 2016.
24. ^ "Bihar elections: OBCs and Dalits 70% in Nitish list, upper castes 42% in BJP". The Indian Express. 24 September 2015.
25. ^ "Little room for women in Nitish's 'Grand' design". The Times of India. 24 September 2015.
26. ^ "Har Ghar Dastak: Nitish's Bihar strategy is old fashioned door-to-door campaigning". 30 June 2015.
27. ^ "Nitish sounds poll bugle with 'Har Ghar Dastak'". The Times of India. 3 July 2015.
28. ^ Sajjad, Mohammad (8 November 2015). "How Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav won Bihar". rediff.com. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
29. ^ "They may have 'amicably' come to a seat-sharing agreement, but 15 months of tumultuous relationship later, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav still remain frenemies". 13 August 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
30. ^ "Giant slayer". 10 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
31. ^ "Team 178: Faces behind Grand Alliance's victory in Bihar polls". 15 November 2015.
32. ^ "Amit Shah vs Prashant Kishor: Who will be the wizard of Bihar election?". Firstpost. 19 July 2015.
33. ^ "Bihar verdict: How RJD, Congress, JDU turned vote share to seats". Retrieved 16 November 2015.
34. ^ ANI (20 November 2015). "Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar Chief Minister for fifth time". Retrieved 10 April 2016.
35. ^ "LIVE: Nitish Kumar Forms Government In Bihar With BJP; Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav Lash Out". NDTV. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
36. ^ "Upendra Kushwaha's exit could undo BJP's carefully planned Bihar caste coalition". theprint.in. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
37. ^ "Bihar Election Results: BJP-JD(U) alliance sweeps Bihar, gets 39 of the 40 seats". economic times. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
38. ^ "Nitish leaves ally BJP in the cold, claims support of 164 MLAs of seven Mahagathbandhan parties to form government".
39. ^ "Nitish Kumar Bihar News Highlights: Nitish takes oath as CM for 9th time; BJP's Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha sworn-in as ministers". The Indian Express. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* 2020 Bihar State Elections

* v
* t
* e

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

Members|

| National parties|

* Communist Party of India (Marxist)
* Indian National Congress

|

State parties|

* All India Trinamool Congress
* Bharat Adivasi Party
* Communist Party of India
* Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation
* Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
* Indian Union Muslim League
* Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
* Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party
* Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
* Kerala Congress (Joseph)
* Kerala Congress (M)
* Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)
* Rashtriya Loktantrik Party
* Rashtriya Janata Dal
* Revolutionary Socialist Party
* Peasants and Workers Party of India
* Samajwadi Party
* Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)
* Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi

Unrecognised parties|

* All India Forward Bloc
* Anchalik Gana Morcha
* Assam Jatiya Parishad
* Goa Forward Party
* Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi
* Makkal Needhi Maiam
* Manithaneya Makkal Katchi
* Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
* Raijor Dal
* Vikassheel Insaan Party

Leaders|

* Mallikarjun Kharge
* Sonia Gandhi
* Rahul Gandhi
* Akhilesh Yadav
* Lalu Prasad Yadav
* Sharad Pawar
* Arvind Kejriwal
* Mamata Banerjee
* Uddhav Thackeray
* Hemant Soren
* M. K. Stalin
* Vaiko
* Hanuman Beniwal
* Dipankar Bhattacharya
* K. M. Kader Mohideen
* Farooq Abdullah
* Mehbooba Mufti
* Rajkumar Roat
* P. J. Joseph
* Doraisamy Raja
* Jose K. Mani
* Jayant Prabhakar Patil
* G. Devarajan
* Manoj Bhattacharya
* Sitaram Yechury
* Akhil Gogoi
* Thol. Thirumavalavan
* Krishna Patel
* E. R. Eswaran
* Vijai Sardesai
* Lurinjyoti Gogoi
* M. H. Jawahirullah
* Ajit Kumar Bhuyan
* Mukesh Sahni
* Kamal Haasan

Member fronts|

* Maha Vikas Aghadi
* Mahagathbandhan (Bihar)
* Mahagathbandhan (Jharkhand)
* Secular Progressive Alliance
* United Democratic Front

Candidates by election|

2024
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