Tejashwi Yadav takes center stage again: Congress ‘sidelined’ in Grand Alliance manifesto cover?

The manifesto cover prominently features RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, the Opposition’s Chief Ministerial face, while Rahul Gandhi’s image appears only as a small thumbnail in the left corner.

The visual hierarchy hasn’t gone unnoticed by the BJP, which had previously mocked the alliance when Rahul Gandhi was missing entirely from earlier posters.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla renewed his attacks on X, quipping, “Joint PC? But only one picture. Rahul Gandhi & Congress ka ‘samman chori’. Showed Congress & Rahul his place?”

Earlier, Poonawalla had accused the RJD of “bullying” the Congress into accepting Tejashwi Yadav as the Mahagathbandhan’s face, warning that the Congress would be given “zero seats” if it resisted.

Meanwhile, seat-sharing talks between the RJD and Congress have struggled to take off, with both parties announcing candidates independently for several constituencies- a clear sign of internal tension.

Asked about Rahul Gandhi’s low-key presence, Congress leader Pawan Khera brushed off the criticism, arguing that Gandhi is not the CM face and that “poster politics” doesn’t resonate with Bihar’s youth.

In the friendly contests emerging in about a dozen seats, both Khera and Tejashwi Yadav maintained that these were strategic moves, shaped by “local dynamics and seat-specific equations.”

As Bihar inches closer to polling day, the optics of leadership and who commands the Grand Alliance’s spotlight seem to be shaping up as much of a political story as the promises inside the manifesto itself.