India, Oct. 17 -- The Congress released a list of 48 candidates late on Thursday for the Bihar assembly elections, capping weeks of gruelling negotiations with its key ally, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The announcement, made just hours before Friday's deadline for filing nominations in the first phase covering 121 constituencies on November 6, underscores the disarray within the opposition INDIA bloc as it also marks the first instance in recent times that a political alliance has plunged into chaos over seat allocations, threatening to fracture the grand anti-BJP front just as the campaign heats up.

The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), led by Mukesh Sahni, has been allocated 15 seats after demanding 25-30; Sahni will file his nominati...