Days before the beginning of the Assembly Election in Bihar, the Grand Alliance on Saturday evening unanimously announced that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav will be its chief ministerial candidate.

The RJD, which is spearheading the opposition coalition, will contest on 144 seats in the 243-strong assembly. The Congress has been offered 70 seats, besides contesting the by-poll to Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat, while CPI-(M) and CPI have been given four and six seats, respectively. CPI-ML will contest on 19 seats. RJD said it would accommodate Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasheel Insan Party (VIP) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in its quota of 144 seats.

The JD(U) chief had fought 2015 elections opposing the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but ended up re- aligning with the saffron party, Pandey said. The disjointed formation, however, continued to be in disarray as VIP president Mukesh Sahni a Bollywood set designer-turned-politician announced soon after the press conference that he was quitting the grand alliance since he did not get “a respectable offer”.

“All components of UPA have decided to come together as coalition for the Bihar Assembly elections. Congress, RJD, CPI, CPM & Vikassheel Insaan Party will be part of this alliance under leadership of RJD. We want Bihar to prosper under Tejashwi Yadav,” Congress’s Avinash Pandey announced on Saturday.