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 (JD-U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to contest 101 seats each.
Bihar BJP 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 (LJP-RV) will contest 29 seats, while Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will each contest six seats.
The announcement comes after a series of talks between NDA partners in Delhi and Patna to finalise the seat-sharing formula.
Posting the details on X, Pradhan said, “We, the NDA allies, have completed the seat-sharing in a cordial atmosphere. JD-U (101), BJP (101), LJP-Ram Vilas 29, Rashtriya Lok Morcha 6, and Hindustani Awam Morcha 6. All workers and leaders of NDA parties warmly welcome this. Bihar is ready… once again NDA government.”
Union Minister Chirag Paswan of LJP-RV said on X that the NDA family is intact, and all alliance partners will campaign vigorously to return the NDA to power in Bihar.
The seat-sharing announcement was jointly made by top NDA leaders, including Tawde, JD-U Working President Sanjay Jha, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, Chirag Paswan, and Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal.
Jitan Ram Manjhi expressed satisfaction over the seat allocation: “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.”
Chirag Paswan emerged as the biggest gainer, securing 29 seats after strong negotiations. His LJP-RV had won all five seats it contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, earning a larger share in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM also received a satisfactory allocation of six seats, in line with expectations.
–IANS
