PATNA, Sept. 6 -- With the Bihar assembly polls drawing closer, seat-sharing talks within the Opposition INDIA bloc - comprising RJD, Congress, Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the Left parties - remain in a nascent stage. Indications are that junior allies like Congress and the Left are pushing for a larger share of seats from the bloc's senior-most constituent, RJD, emboldened by the big turnout during the Voter Adhikar Yatra. Insiders in the INDIA bloc said the seat sharing talks among the constituents has failed to gain much momentum except for initial talks on stitching a deal amicably with focus on allotment of seats to each constituent based on the 'winnability' factor. The good response to the Voter Adhikar Yatra led by leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi along with former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other constituent leaders from August 16 till August 31, which touched 25 districts and covered 1,300 km in the state against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, has apparently given an opportunity to Congress and Left parties to bargain hard for higher number of seats as against earlier agreed informally during the seat sharing talks, people familiar with the developments said. "There is a reason to bargain hard as the Voter Adhikar yatra got a big response in the districts led by Rahul Gandhi. Congress does feel there is no reason it should contest less number of seats and would be striving for winnable seats unlike in 2020 when our performance was not as per desired because we did not get choice seats," said a senior Congress leader. In the 2020 assembly polls, Congress had got 70 seats of which it managed to win only 19. People familiar with the matter said that the Congress has demanded 90 seats in its recent talks with the RJD and also put a condition that seat allotments should be done based on the winnability factor not just party's performance in past elections. "The Congress has managed to gain traction after the Voter Adhikar yatra of the party and the mood of the workers and leadership is buoyant. There is always focus on fighting winnable seats. Of course, the state leadership of the Congress too has to make sure there is a good seat sharing deal," said Harku Jha, senior Congress leader. It is said that the Congress making an assertion for higher number of seats is keen on bargaining for 'good seats' where winnability chances are high from the RJD and not settling down for such seats, where ruling NDA have a stronghold. "We want choice seats and this time, it would be based on the feedback from the local workers. Candidates have already started being shortlisted by our screening committee for various constituencies where we have a good support base," said another state Congress leader. Significantly, the Congress' new found assertion has seemingly confounded the senior most ally in the INDIA bloc in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as the party known for playing hardball in negotiations with allies on seat allotments in last many polls is faced with a situation of walking a tightrope in stitching a 'sweet deal' with allies. People familiar with the ongoing political developments in the state said the RJD having earlier made a target of contesting around 150 seats (as against 144 contested in 2020 election) is now looking contesting less than 140 seats knowing well it has to give more seats to Congress, CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI-CPM and VIP led by Mukesh Sahani. There are indications that Sahani, who has his party's base among EBCs especially Nishads and Kewats in north Bihar and Kosi area mainly, has put forth a demand for 60 seats where as the CPI-ML (Liberation), which is the major left party in Bihar, has put forth a demand for 40 seats. CPI and CPM, the other two left parties, are also keen on getting 10 seats each. RJD state leaders maintained the seat sharing deal in the coalition would not be a smooth sail though they insisted it would be done amicably. "In every major coalition in the state be it INDIA bloc or NDA, it is the senior most party having a bigger support base which has to sacrifice in terms of seats. Well, this time, it would not be any different. Of course, smaller allies in the Opposition are asserting more seats but we would have an arrangement based on winnability this time. Parties would not matter as candidates would be selected based on their performance and winning capability. The stakes are high for us and we hope, all allies would understand that," said a RJD MP, seeking anonymity, Insiders in the RJD said that on Wednesday, leader of the Opposition Tejashwi urged all district presidents, MLAs, MLCs and other senior leaders that they should now focus on their respective constituencies and also start taking feedback about people's mood about various candidates. People familiar with the matter said that the RJD leader also hinted to party's sitting MLAs that it was not guaranteed that they all might get tickets and some new faces might be given tickets based on feedback from workers, signalling that the RJD too was looking at a possibility where many of its sitting seats could be given to allies like Congress and left parties based on the 'winnability' factor. On September 15, a meeting of the coordination committee of the INDIA bloc in Bihar or Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) is scheduled to take place in Patna where discussions are likely to take place on seat sharing. "The seat sharing deal would happen at the opportune time . Talks are underway and all allies are united in the INDIA bloc. There may be some changes in seats but overall, the exercise would be done in an amicable way," said Chittaranjan Gagan, state RJD spokesperson. Insiders said there would be high level talks with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Congress top leadership soon for giving the seat sharing deal a final touch in next few weeks following which the allotments would be done on a seat to seat basis among all the allies. There are indications that the Congress may get 50-60 seats while the CPI-ML may get 25-30 seats while VIP too may get around 30 seats based on how much the leaders of the constituents agree to play accommodative. In that scenario, the RJD may have to fight 130-35 seats or even less in case Jharkhand Mukhti Morcha (JMM) is given a few seats as part of the Opposition bloc....