India, Oct. 23 -- It's official. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav will lead the Opposition's Mahagathbandhan as its Chief Ministerial face in Bihar's high-stakes Assembly election. After weeks of seat-sharing disputes and uneasy coordination among allies, Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced the decision at a joint press conference in Patna, calling Tejashwi "young" and "committed," while challenging the BJP to name its own candidate. Gehlot was sent to Patna by the party leadership team to assuage the angry Tejashwi.

The announcement comes barely two weeks before the state votes in the first phase on 6 November - a late and reluctant climbdown by the Congress, which had resisted projecting any single leade...