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The Grand Democratic Secular Front (GDSF) was a coalition of political parties in the Indian state of Bihar formed on 8 October 2020 after the merger of the constituents of the United Democratic Secular Alliance and a three party front. The coalition was formed in the wake of the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election and consisted of 6 parties.[1][2][3][4]
History

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen announced an alliance with Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic ahead of the 2020 elections in Bihar. RLSP, BSP and PSP declared another alliance for upcoming Bihar election. However these two separate coalition of political parties merged and formed a brand new alliance named Grand Democratic Secular Front and declared Upendra Kushwaha as its Chief Ministerial candidate for Bihar.[5][6] According to its leaders, the alliance was forged to converge the Dalit, OBC & Muslim votes.[7]
The bloc's ticket distribution plan gave due weightage to caste and communal representation in various constituencies. It was decided that the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party will contest on 104 out of 243 seats of the Bihar Assembly while Bahujan Samaj Party was to contest on 80 seats. The other members like AIMIM and Samajwadi Janata Dal were given 24 and 25 seats respectively while the minor players like Suhaldev Bhartiya Samaj Party and Janwadi Party Socialist were to contest 5-5 seats each.[8]
In the first phase of the election RLSP contested on 42 seats.[9] Relying upon its vote base which is Kushwaha caste, RLSP fielded 40% Kushwaha candidates in the elections . The Grand Democratic Secular Front of which RLSP was a constituent member relied primarily upon the votes of castes like Kushwahas, Ravidasis, and Muslims . RLSP in the first phase of elections contested a total of 42 seats amongst which it gave ticket to 17 candidates of Kushwaha caste while its ally AIMIM placed its candidates in Muslim dominated areas of Bihar.[10] Similarly in the list of its 37 candidates in the second phase also Koeri candidates were dominant accounting for 18 seats.[11]
The Grand Democratic Secular front however failed to perform as it claimed earlier in the Bihar Assembly Elections of 2020. Its only success was in obtaining six seats, five of which were won by AIMIM in the Muslim dominated Simanchal region of Bihar. The Bahujan Samaj Party also won one seat but the RLSP, the principal political party of the alliance performed badly and failed to win any seats.[12]
| Alliance | Party | Popular vote | Seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Contested | Won | +/− | ||||
| colspan=10 bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | |||||||||
| rowspan=6 bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | GDSF | bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | AIMIM | 523,279 | 1.24% | Template:Increase1.03% | 20 | 5 | Template:Increase 5 |
| bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | BSP | 628,944 | 1.49% | Template:Decrease0.60% | 80 | 1 | Template:Increase 1 | ||
| bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | RLSP | 744,221 | 1.77% | Template:Decrease0.82% | 104 | 0 | Template:Decrease 2 | ||
| bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | SJDD | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | 25 | 0 | Template:N/a | ||
| bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | SBSP | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | 5 | 0 | Template:N/a | ||
| JP-S | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | 5 | 0 | Template:N/a | |||
Defection of legislators and dormancy
Following its poor performance in Bihar Assembly elections of 2020, the coalition ripped apart with its elected Member of Legislative Assembly meeting with leaders of other political parties. Zama Khan, the single legislator from Bahujan Samaj Party joined Janata Dal (United) and was made a minister in the expanded cabinet of Nitish Kumar in 2021.[15] The defection was followed by the attempt of JD(U) to merge the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, which happened inevitably in 2021. The merger of RLSP into the JDU ripped the coalition apart. The coalition virtually ceased to exist after it.
Members and status of parties during 2020 Bihar elections
| Party | Abbreviation | MPs in Lok Sabha | MPs in Rajya Sabha | Seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly | Base State | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Bahujan Samaj Party |
BSP | 10 | 4 | 1 | National Party |
| width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen |
AIMIM | 2 | 0 | 5 | Telangana |
| width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic | SJDD | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bihar[16][17] |
| width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Rashtriya Lok Samta Party |
RLSP | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bihar |
| width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party | SBSP | 0 | 0 | 0 | Uttar Pradesh |
| width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Janvadi Party Socialist | Janvadi Party Socialist | 0 | 0 | 0 | Uttar Pradesh |
See also
- United Progressive Alliance
- National Democratic Alliance
- Mahagathbandhan (Bihar)
- Progressive Democratic Alliance (Bihar)
- Coalition government
- Federal Front
References
- ↑ Yet another election front formed in Bihar. Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
- ↑ Asaduddin Owaisi, Upendra Kushwaha Form Front Of 6 Parties For Bihar Polls. NDTV.com. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
- ↑ Grand Democratic Secular Front: Fifth alliance emerges in poll-bound Bihar. New Indian Express(9 October 2020).
- ↑ Bihar elections 2020: Six-party front likely to hurt NDA and Grand Alliance. The Economic Times(11 October 2020).
- ↑ AIMIM BIHAR aligns with SJD in Bihar, Owaisi wants like-minded parties to join(September 20, 2020).
- ↑ कुशवाहा के साथ ओवैसी:ओवैसी से गठबंधन के बाद अजय प्रताप को भी रालोसपा में ले आये उपेंद्र कुशवाहा, जमुई सीट पर होगा रोमांचक मुकाबला. Dainik Bhaskar.
- ↑ BSP, AIMIM, RLSP's new front in Bihar is eyeing Dalit-Muslim votes, could dent JD(U), Khan, Fatima. ThePrint(2020-10-10). Retrieved 2020-10-12.
- ↑ Bihar elections: Caste factor reflects in selection of RLSP candidates. Business Standard.
- ↑ RLSP ने जारी की पहले चरण के 42 उम्मीदवारों की लिस्ट, यहां देखें- किसे मिला कहां से टिकट?. ABP News.
- ↑ जाति की राजनीति:बिहार विधानसभा चुनाव में 3 चरण में 100 से अधिक सीटों पर लड़ेगी रालोसपा, 40% होंगे कुशवाहा प्रत्याशी. Dainik Bhaskar.
- ↑ RLSP fielded 18 Koeri candidates in 37, BSP got 80 seats. Dainik Bhaskar.
- ↑ Bihar-polls-owaisi-arrives-with-5-big-wins-hits-grand-alliance, Ahmed, Wali. Indian Exoress.
- ↑ Exit of smaller parties dented Mahagathbandhan’s chances of regaining power in Bihar. Hindustan Times.
- ↑ Owaisi, Mayawati or Upendra Kushwaha: Why RJD-led Grand Alliance lost fort Bihar to NDA?. Zee News.
- ↑ BSP's lone MLA Jama Khan joins Nitish Kumar's JD-U in Bihar. The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
- ↑ AIMIM floats secular alliance for Bihar elections(September 20, 2020).
- ↑ Owaisi forms third front ahead of Bihar elections(September 20, 2020).