"I don't deny...": Congress MP Akhilesh Singh admits "tussle" within Mahagathbandhan over ticket distribution

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 21 (ANI): Congress MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Tuesday admitted "tussle" within the Mahagathbandhan during ticket distribution in the Bihar assembly elections, stating that it has sent a wrong message to the common people.
"I don't deny that there indeed has been a little mess up. The manner in which there was a tussle over the distribution of tickets has indeed sent a wrong message," Akhilesh Prasad Singh told ANI, while replying to a question related to Mahagathbandhan allies facing each other on 12 seats.
He further stated that the issue should be resolved immediately, as there is no friendly fight in elections. Singh mentioned that the Congress high command would address and resolve the issue.
"There should not be a friendly fight. There is time until tomorrow (for withdrawal of nominations). It should be resolved immediately, and I think the senior leaders of the Congress and leaders sent by the high command are working on it," Akhilesh added.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday released its list of candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections, fielding 143 contenders across the state. The official list was released on the last day of nominations for the second phase. 24 Women candidates are among the 143 named as contestants.
After comparing the candidate lists from the RJD and the Indian National Congress (Congress) for the Bihar assembly elections, there are some common seats where both parties have fielded a candidate despite being in the Mahagathbandhan.
In Narkatiaganj, Deepak Yadav (RJD) will face Shaswat Kedar Pandey (Congress); in Kahalgaon, Rajnish Bharti (RJD) will compete against Praveen Singh Kushwaha (Congress); and in Sikandra (SC), Uday Narayan Chaudhary (RJD) will go up against Vinod Chaudhary (Congress) while in Lalganj (Vaishali) Shivani Shukla is likely to go up against Aditya Raja of Congress. However, there is likely to be a compromise between the allies, with one of the parties withdrawing in favour of the other.
The 2025 Bihar Elections will have the main contest between the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan.
NDA includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
The Mahagathbandhan led by Rashtriya Janata Dal include Congress party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) led by Deepankar Bhattacharya, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP).
Additionally, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj has also staked claims on all 243 seats of the state.
Meanwhile, polling in the Bihar 2025 elections is scheduled to take place on November 6 and 11, respectively, while the results will be declared on November 14. (ANI)