NDA finalises seat-sharing for Bihar polls; BJP, JD-U to contest 101 seats each (Lead)

Patna, Oct 12 (IANS) The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), on Sunday, finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to contest an equal number of 101 seats each.

Bihar BJP's election in-charge, Vinod Tawde, announced the decision on social media platform X, saying, "An organised and dedicated NDA... For the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, all members of the NDA family have completed the seat-sharing agreement in a cordial atmosphere."

Apart from the BJP and JD-U, Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas will contest 29 seats, Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest six, and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will also contest six seats.

Speaking over seat-sharing in the ruling NDA for Bihar Assembly elections, BJP's Bihar in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday announced that Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and the BJP will contest 101 seats each while the rest will be distributed in junior coalition partners including LJP-RV, RLM and HAM.

The announcement comes after a series of parleys between the NDA alliance partners, both in Delhi and Patna, over hammering out a seat-sharing formula.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took to his X account to share the seat-sharing details in the NDA.

"We, the NDA allies, have completed the seat-sharing in cordial atmosphere. JD-U (101), BJP (101), LJP-Ram Vilas 29, Rashtriya Lok Morcha 6, and Hindustani Awam Morcha 6," he said in a post on X.

"NDA allies have completed the distribution of seats in a cordial atmosphere. All workers and leaders of NDA parties warmly welcome this. Bihar is ready... once again NDA government," he added.

Union Minister Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV) also said on his X account that the NDA family is intact, and all alliance partners will take to the hustings with full force to bring back the NDA government to power in Bihar.

Interestingly, the seat-sharing agreement was announced jointly shared by top NDA leaders -- including Vinod Tawde, JDU Working President Sanjay Jha, RLM Chief Upendra Kushwaha, Union Minister Chirag Paswan, and Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal -- on social media on Sunday evening.

Following the announcement on NDA's seat-sharing arrangement, Jitan Ram Manjhi expressed satisfaction, saying, "During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, our high command had given me one seat, and we were happy. Now, they have given us six seats, and we are happy with this as well."

The biggest gainer in the NDA's seat-sharing arrangement appears to be Chirag Paswan, whose party secured 29 seats after strong negotiations.

Chirag Paswan's LJP-RV had achieved a 100 per cent strike rate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning all five seats it contested.

On that basis, Chirag Paswan was given 29 seats in the Bihar Assembly election.

Upendra Kushwaha's RLM also received a satisfactory share, with six seats -- matching his expectations for the upcoming polls.

With the seat-sharing agreement completed, all NDA allies are now preparing for a high-voltage electoral battle, aiming to retain power in Bihar under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

--IANS

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