Patna, Oct 18: Even after the first round of nominations is over, the Grand Alliance in Bihar has failed to reach a consensus on seat sharing. As a result, eight candidates from the alliance are now locked in direct contests against each other, exposing deep fissures within the opposition bloc.

The nomination process for the first phase of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections concluded on Friday, but the Grand Alliance — comprising the RJD, Congress, CPI, CPI-ML, CPIM, and VIP — has yet to formally announce its seat-sharing arrangement.

Despite the nomination deadline passing, there is still no clarity on how many seats each constituent party will contest.

Internal disagreements have marred the alliance’s coordination.

So far, the Congress has released a list of 48 candidates, while the CPI(ML) has announced 18 candidates.

However, the lack of coordination has led to a situation where the allies are competing against one another in the very first phase of the election.

In at least eight constituencies, Grand Alliance partners have fielded rival candidates.

The RJD has given a ticket to Shivani Shukla, daughter of strongman Munna Shukla, from Lalganj.

Shivani, accompanied by her mother Annu Shukla, filed her nomination soon after receiving the party symbol.

However, the Congress has also fielded Aditya Kumar Raja from the same seat, setting up a direct intra-alliance clash in Lalganj.

Apart from Lalganj, RJD’s Ajay Kushwaha is contesting against Congress’s Sanjeev Kumar in Vaishali.

In Tarapur, RJD’s Arun Shah is contesting against VIP’s Sakaldev Bind.

In Bachhwara (Begusarai), CPI’s Awadhesh Rai is competing against Congress’s Garib Das.

On Gaura Bauram, RJD’s Afzal Ali is contesting against VIP’s Santosh Sahani.

In Rajapakad, CPI’s Mohit Paswan is contesting against Congress’s Pratima Das.

In Rosera, CPI’s Laxman Paswan is contesting against Congress’s B.K. Ravi and one more seat where the Grand Alliance constituent partners are contesting against each other.

Instead of taking on the NDA, the Grand Alliance partners appear to be fighting among themselves, sending a confusing message to their supporters and potentially weakening their electoral prospects.

For the past 10 days, intense discussions have taken place from Patna to Delhi over the seat-sharing formula.

Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly tried to placate several unhappy leaders, but their efforts failed to yield any concrete outcome.

As the deadline approached, the situation turned chaotic — parties began distributing election symbols without official announcements, and candidates rushed to file nominations at the last minute.

Nandurbar: At least eight people were killed and several others injured after a pickup vehicle carrying pilgrims fell into a deep valley at Chandshaili Ghat in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district late on Friday night. Police officials confirmed that the tragic mishap occurred near Makad Tekdi in the Dhadgaon–Taloda area, under the jurisdiction of the Shahada Police Station. Videos of the accident spot have surfaced on the internet.

According to preliminary reports, the pickup truck was carrying a group of pilgrims returning from a temple visit when the driver lost control while negotiating a sharp turn on the steep ghat section. The vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into the valley, overturning multiple times before coming to a halt.

Local villagers and police teams immediately launched rescue operations. The injured victims were rushed to Taloda Sub-District Hospital for emergency medical aid. Police officials later confirmed that eight people died on the spot, while at least eight others sustained serious injuries. Some reports suggest that the number of injured could be as high as 28, with 15 of them in critical condition.

Authorities said efforts were still underway to identify the deceased and notify their families. The cause of the accident is suspected to be overspeeding and loss of control on a sharp bend, though an official investigation has been initiated. The local administration has also deployed additional medical teams to assist with treatment.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra also witnessed two other tragic road accidents on Saturday. On the Samruddhi Expressway, two Myanmar nationals, including a 10-year-old child, were killed in Malegaon (Washim district) when an Innova car lost control and rammed into a divider. The vehicle was reportedly travelling from Mumbai to Nagpur. In a separate incident near Shahapur, another person died and two sustained injuries in a road mishap.

Mumbai: In a major success ahead of the festive season, the Mumbai Police recovered 1,464 stolen and lost mobile phones worth over Rs 3.22 crore from various parts of the city and returned them to their rightful owners on Thursday, October 16. The large-scale recovery drive was a coordinated effort by Zones 3, 4, and 5 of the Mumbai Police, supported by CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register) portal operators, cyber officers and crime detection teams.

A video of the special program organised to return the stolen phones has gone viral on the internet. According to officials, Zone 3 recovered 356 phones, including 62 from Tardeo, 80 from Nagpada, 48 from Agripada, 61 from Byculla, 55 from Worli, and 50 from N.M. Joshi Marg police stations.

Zone 4 accounted for 448 phones, traced from stations such as Bhoiwada (72), Kalachowki (48), Matunga (79), R.A.K. Marg (58), Sion (69), Antop Hill (61), and Wadala T.T. (61). The highest recovery came from Zone 5, which retrieved 660 phones from Dadar (138), Shivaji Park (113), Mahim (88), Shahunagar (70), Dharavi (97), Kurla (108) and V.B.A. Nagar (46).

In addition to the phones, valuables such as gold, silver, and other ornaments worth Rs 21.87 lakh were also returned to citizens. The handover ceremony was held under the guidance of the Additional Commissioner of Police, Central Regional Division, and attended by DCPs from Zones 3, 4 and 5.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Mumbai Police’s DCP Zone 12 had also returned valuables worth Rs 3.89 crore to citizens as part of a similar initiative. “A special Diwali return gift!” the police wrote in a post on X, announcing the recovery of 2.25 kg of gold jewelry, 2 buses, 7 auto-rickshaws, 13 motorcycles, 4 laptops, and 689 mobile phones. The operation covered multiple police stations, including Dahisar, Kasturba Marg, Samta Nagar, Kurar, Dindoshi, Vanrai and Aarey.