Patna: The ruling NDA in Bihar on Sunday finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming polls to the 243-member assembly, in which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the BJP will contest 101 constituencies each, leaving the rest for smaller allies.
The announcement to the effect came on X handles of JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary and Union minister Chirag Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) settled with a deal of 29 seats.
The Hindustani Awam Morcha of Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had been insisting on “at least 15 seats”, was given only six constituencies, while the remaining six assembly segments went to Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
This is the first assembly poll since CM Nitish Kumar spearheaded the NDA to end the 15-year reign of the RJD-led government in Bihar in 2005, that his JD(U) 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.
BJP’s Bihar polls in-charge Dharmendra 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.
Jha, Choudhary and Paswan, all of whom have been camping in New Delhi for the past few days, were also unanimous in the averment that the deal was clinched in an “amicable atmosphere”.
Manjhi, who is rumoured to be unhappy with the formula, wrote on his X handle that he was returning to Patna, but asserted, “I will stay with Prime Minister Narendra Modi till my last breath”.
Later, talking to reporters in Patna on Sunday evening, Manjhi said, “We have been given six seats, this is the decision of the high command, and we accept it. We are satisfied with what we have received. There is no complaint. When my party was given one seat in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, I had no complaints at that time”.
Asked about Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s party getting more seats, Manjhi reiterated it was the “decision of the high command”.
Barring Kushwaha’s party, which came into being only a couple of years ago, all other constituents of the NDA had agreed to contest fewer seats than the number of constituencies they fought respectively in the 2020 polls.
Commenting on seat-sharing arrangements, Upendra Kushwaha, in a post on X, wrote, “We, NDA allies, have completed the distribution of seats in a cordial atmosphere after mutual discussions. We all welcome this unanimous decision.”
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)’s Lok Sabha MP Arun Bharti, in a social media post, said, “The 29 seats allocated to the LJP (RV) mark the beginning of a new chapter in Bihar. I extend my heartfelt thanks to our national president Chirag Paswan ji, for this historic agreement, whose leadership, patience, and vision have united the alliance.”
He expressed gratitude to all the partners of the NDA and their leaders, who demonstrated cooperation and dedication in this process.
“Under the leadership of Chirag Paswan ji – the resolve of ‘Bihar First, and Bihari First’ is now even stronger,” Bharti said.
In the last elections, the JD(U) had the lion’s share of 115 seats, followed by the BJP at 110 and Manjhi’s HAM at seven.
Paswan, who was then heading the Lok Janshakti Party, had fought separately and fielded candidates in 135 seats.
Another NDA partner of 2020, Vikassheel Insaan Party of former state minister Mukesh Sahani, which is now with the INDIA bloc, had contested four seats.
The JD(U) is understood to have not insisted on a lion’s share this time in view of the party’s poor performance in 2020, when it won only 43 seats, far less than the BJP’s 74, though the debacle was blamed, primarily, on Paswan’s revolt.
Paswan’s revolt was then suspected to have been at the behest of the BJP and had also resulted in JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar’s exit from NDA, albeit for a brief period of 17 months.
The 243-member Bihar assembly will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, and the counting will take place on November 14.
(The copy has been updated with new information)
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