No rift in NDA over seat-sharing, says Chirag as party convenes meet to plan Bihar poll strategy

Amidst growing unease within the ruling NDA over seat-sharing for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has called an emergency meeting to finalise the party's strategy, even as he made it clear that "there are no differences within the NDA over the issue."

Talking to reporters in Khagaria on Wednesday, Chirag said, "The news circulating about me based on sources is completely false and baseless. I am not upset with anyone. Seat-sharing issues in the NDA will be finalised soon."

However, the party has called an urgent meeting of its leaders in Patna on Thursday to discuss issues related to the polls and finalise the party's strategy.

The two-phase Assembly elections will be held on November 6 and 11, while votes will be counted on November 14.

Leaders of the party have also denied reports about a possible alliance with Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj. Kishor, too, has denied any such pact.

"This is not a fight for seats….there is a fight to loot Bihar. Every party wants to get more seats so that they can loot Bihar more. We do not have any alliance with any political party. Our alliance is with the people," Kishor told reporters on Wednesday, denying reports of a possible alliance between Jan Suraaj and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

Bickering among the ruling NDA partners in Bihar over seat sharing came to the fore on Wednesday, though the BJP, which held a marathon meeting of its leaders on the issue, claimed that everything is fine in the alliance.

Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi said he was "requesting and not making a claim" that his party be given a respectable number of seats, warning that HAM might not contest if its demand was ignored.

"It will be a humiliation for me and my party if we are not given at least 15 seats in the Assembly polls. If we get 15, we can easily win at least 8-9 seats and become a recognised party," Manjhi had told reporters.

Even after 10 years of establishment, HAM remains an unrecognised party.

"I have been helping the NDA for a long time. So, I am requesting the NDA leaders, not making a claim. My party would prefer not to contest the polls if we don't get a respectable number of seats. But, I must make it clear that even if we don't contest, our party will keep working for the NDA partners," Manjhi had said.

Senior BJP leaders, including Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and national general secretary Vinod Tawde, met party functionaries in Patna on Wednesday to discuss seat-sharing and finalise the list of candidates.

After the meeting, BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said, "Everything is fine within the NDA. The final decision about seat-sharing and candidates will be taken in the party's parliamentary board meeting."

According to sources in the NDA, JD(U) and the BJP are likely to contest 102 and 101 seats, respectively.

Chirag's party, which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for at least 25 more. Senior party leaders think that the party should get at least 45 seats, a party leader said on condition of anonymity.