Bihar Assembly polls: NDA allies seal seat deal; BJP, JD (U) to contest 101 each, Chirag’s LJP (RV) gets 29

The BJP and the JD(U) will each contest on 101 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, while Union Minister Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (RV) will field its candidates on 29 seats, Union Minister and BJP’s Bihar polls in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Sunday.

Also read: Bihar Assembly polls: Opposition seat-sharing, joint manifesto likely this week

In a post on X as the meeting of the BJP’s Central Election Committee, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders, started, Pradhan said Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha will field their candidates on six seats each.

This is the first Assembly poll since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led the NDA to end the 15-year reign of the RJD-led government in 2005 that his Janata Dal (United) will not be contesting more seats than the BJP in alliance, a clear signal of the acknowledgement within the ruling bloc of the regional party’s decline and the BJP’s growing heft.

The BJP had contested one more seat in the state than the JD(U) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, also a first.

Pradhan said all National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners have completed the seat-distribution exercise in a cordial manner.

He said, “Leaders and workers of all NDA parties welcome this with happiness. Bihar is ready for another NDA government.”

Paswan, who seems to have drawn the best bargain, and Kushwaha echoed Pradhan’s message.

Manjhi, whose quota of seats is far short of his public posturing, had in a post a few hours before Pradhan’s announcement asserted his loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi till “my last breath”.

Bihar will again have Modi-Nitish government, Manjhi added.

Manjhi later told reporters that he will accept the decision of BJP’s leadership but added in the same breath that his party has been undervalued which might have repercussions for the NDA.

The announcement followed days of negotiations involving senior BJP leadership and their allies except the JD(U), which had reached an understanding with the principal NDA party earlier.

Allies like Paswan, Manjhi and Kushwaha drove a hard bargain with the BJP and blew hot and cold in talks, even as the negotiation continued. Paswan appears to have prevailed on the BJP, which conceded more seats than it was earlier willing to.

The 243-member Bihar assembly will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11.

In 2020, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) had contested on 115 seats and the BJP on 110 seats, while Paswan’s party had fought independently due to his differences with Kumar.

The NDA had won 125 seats while Mahagathbandhan secured 110 seats in the closely contested election.

Meanwhile, the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’ alliance in Bihar is likely to finalise its seat-sharing in the next few days and may announce its candidates along with a joint manifesto this week.

Top sources said talks between the RJD and Congress are under way, and their leadership may meet on Monday as RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav are in the national capital.

On the delay in seat-sharing announcement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “We have to adjust some new partners in the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and we have to adjust them too in seat-sharing.”

“In the next two-three days, we expect all the seats to be finalised and declared,” he said.

Asked about the number of seats the Congress will contest this time, Ramesh said, “Anything between half a century and a century”.

The Congress contested on 70 Assembly seats in the last Bihar polls and won 19, while the RJD contested on 144 seats and bagged 75 in the 243-member Assembly.