BIHAR BATTLE: Chirag meets Shah, hails BJP, JD(U) over seat-sharing pact

Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Saturday thanked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the BJP for “showing a big heart” in accommodating smaller NDA partners, including his LJP (Ram Vilas), in the seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly elections.

Paswan called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has been camping in the city since Thursday. He asserted that the NDA would achieve “a historic victory” and mocked the opposition INDIA bloc for alleged infighting among its constituents.

“There is no clarity on whether Tejashwi Yadav is the face or not. Candidates of the RJD, Congress and the Left are going to fight against each other. The NDA, on the other hand, is all set for a historic victory under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

“We were not fighting for a particular number of seats as such. We only wanted to contest from those places where we had a strong presence. I am thankful to the BJP and the JD(U). Both have shown a big heart in the NDA seat-sharing arrangement,” said the Hajipur MP, whose Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) got 29 seats, despite not having a single MLA in the outgoing Assembly.

Both the BJP and JD(U) have got 101 seats each, while the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) led by Upendra Kushwaha and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) led by Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi have been allocated six seats each.

The 243-member Bihar Assembly poll will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11. The counting of votes will take place on November 14.

NDA candidate’s nomination rejected

• Nomination of former Bhojpuri actress Seema Singh, a Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate, got rejected on Saturday on “technical grounds”.
• Chirag Paswan said, “We have submitted a representation before the EC. The situation has arisen because of a small lapse. Hopefully, it will be resolved.”
• Nomination of Altaf Alam Raju — a former JD(U) leader who has entered the fray as an Independent — was also rejected.
• The seat is now likely to witness a direct contest between sitting RJD MLA Jitendra Kumar Rai and Jan Suraaj’s Abhay Singh.