PATNA, Oct. 3 -- Cracks in Bihar's INDIA bloc have resurfaced as two of its main allies -- Congress and RJD -- will contest each other on three legislative council seats in the upcoming polls. In the 2025 assembly polls, the bloc saw a friendly fight in 11 constituencies. Polls for eight seats in the Upper House of the bicameral Bihar legislature are scheduled on October 23. Late on Thursday night, Congress released its list of five candidates, approved by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and signed by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal. The nominees are Madan Mohan Jha (Darbhanga Teachers'), Manoj Kumar Jaiswal (Kosi Graduates'), Rajnikant Pathak (Darbhanga Graduates'), Sanjay Yadav (Patna Teachers') and Asadullah Khan (Patna Graduates'). The RJD had already announced candidates for six seats on September 11, naming Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Patna Teachers'), Dilip Kumar (Patna Graduates'), Nitesh Kumar (Kosi Graduates'), Anil Kumar Jha (Darbhanga Graduates'), Jayram Yadav (Saran Teachers') and Rashmi Vinayak Gautam (Tirhut Graduates'). This sets up direct contests with Congress in the three Graduates' constituencies of Kosi, Darbhanga and Patna. The RJD has left Darbhanga Teachers' and Tirhut Teachers' open for now. Candidates from both Congress and RJD are in the fray in Kosi Graduates, Darbhanga Graduates and Patna Graduates seats, turning the polls into a multi-pronged contest among the Opposition, ruling NDA and new entrant Jan Suraaj Party. In Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies, aspiring candidates help prepare the electoral rolls themselves. Voters are enrolled largely on the recommendation of those in the fray, and only those whose names appear on these candidate-driven lists can exercise their franchise. The process rewards early groundwork, personal networks and sustained outreach among the educated and teaching communities - a terrain the Congress is determined not to cede. Even though the split is open, the leaders from both Congress and RJD defend the decision to go independent on certain seats as an assertion of organisational relevance rather than a rupture. Former BPCC president and Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh, speaking after attending an INTUC state conference in Patna, sought to downplay the friction. "This is an election without symbols. Last time, all parties also fielded their candidates. The INDIA alliance remains united. Earlier too we fought separately in places like Darbhanga, Motihari, Katihar and Begusarai," he said. Political observers feel that the Congress move also reflects a quiet confidence inside the party about its improving connection with younger voters. Buoyed by Rahul Gandhi's growing traction among Gen Z - through direct engagement, student outreach programmes and a style that has begun to resonate with a generation long written off as indifferent to traditional politics - the Congress sees these specialised seats as an opportunity to plant its flag more firmly in Bihar. The party's calculation appears to be that a visible presence among graduates and teachers, many of them first-time or young voters, can translate into longer-term organisational strength, especially after the bruising experience of the 2025 Assembly polls. Meanwhile, RJD chief spokesman Shakti Singh Yadav, who was earlier confident that Congress and the CPI would contest only their sitting seats of Darbhanga Teachers' and Tirhut Teachers', said the Congress list had surprised the party. "Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is the leader of the INDIA bloc in Bihar as Rahul Gandhi is at the national level," he remarked, underscoring the RJD's view of the hierarchy within the alliance. The contest in Tirhut Teachers' has acquired an extra layer of complexity. Though Congress has not officially fielded a candidate there, senior party leader and BPCC media department head Rajesh Kumar Rathorre has made it clear he will contest as an Independent. Rathorre, who has been preparing the ground in the constituency since 2022, remains confident of wresting the seat currently held by CPI's Sanjay Kumar. CPI state council secretary Ram Naresh Pandey struck a more conciliatory note, saying talks for adjustment of seats within the INDIA bloc were still under way. He expressed hope that an agreeable solution would emerge by the last date for withdrawal of nominations on October 9....