Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 12: While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has completed its seat-sharing arrangements in Bihar, albeit reflecting a change in political equation where the chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) has lost its dominant position, the tussle in still on in the opposition “Mahagathbandhan” and may still take a few more days to iron out the differences among the constituents.
“We NDA colleagues have completed the distribution of seats in a cordial atmosphere,” says JDU national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on X. In the opposition camp, reports said talks between the RJD and Congress were underway, and their leadership may meet on Monday as RJD’s Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav are in Delhi for talks. The Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was speaking to all the coalition partners in Bihar.
In the NDA, reflecting a change in political equations within Bihar’s ruling alliance, the JDU and BJP have decided to contest an equal number of seats, 101 each, in the 2025 election in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. The math is impacted majorly by the entry of Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) contesting 29 of the 243 seats.
- Janata Dal (United) (JDU): 101
- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): 101
- Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP(RV): 29
- Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM): 6
- Hindustani Awam Party (Secular) (HAM(S): 6
This is a major climb-down for the JDU led by CM Nitish Kumar, which contested 115 seats in the 2020 Bihar assembly election. The BJP has also come down from 110.
“The 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 and a NDA government will be formed again,” Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan of the BJP posted on X.
The decision came after days of intense speculation and a series of meetings.
Kushwaha had a fresh round of talks with BJP leader Vinod Tawde on Sunday afternoon. The day started with marathon meetings of Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda with Bihar BJP core committee. A meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the central election committee was underway on Sunday evening to finalise the candidates’ list.
The first signs of a consensus on seat-sharing came on Sunday morning with Jitan Ram Manjhi expressing his unflinching support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Will stay with Prime Minister Modi till my last breath,” Manjhi posted on X, highlighting a significant breakthrough in seat-sharing.
The BJP leaders aware of the developments said HAM(S), which had been demanding no less than 15 seats, relented after it was successfully brought on board by the BJP. The NDA leaders said the party has been allocated six assembly seats and one MLC seat, resolving a major point of contention for the alliance.
The LJP(RV) had been demanding no less than 40 seats but finally settled on 29, four more than initially offered by the BJP. The RLM had threatened to go solo in the two-phase Bihar Assembly polls if its demands were not met.
The JD (U) and the BJP had contested 115 and 110 seats respectively in the 2020 assembly polls and won 43 and 74, respectively. The two got a vote share of 15.39% and 19.46%, respectively. The HAM(S) by former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi contested on seven seats and won on four with a state-wide vote share of 0.89%.
Of the other two present allies of the NDA, the RLM contested on 99 seats independently and lost all but managed a vote share of 1.77%. A united LJP contested on 135 seats and won one with a vote share of 5.66% at the state level.
People familiar with the matter in the NDA said the allies’ demand for “quality seats” was kept in mind while striking the seat-sharing deal. They said the final list of seats would be released by October 13.
The last date of filing nominations for the first phase of polls is scheduled on November 6 and ends on October 17.
Modi will kickstart his campaign for the Bihar Assembly elections with an interactive session with BJP workers on Wednesday. In a post on X, Modi said he would interact with BJP workers directly on October 15 under the ‘Mera Booth, Sabse Majboot’ (My booth the strongest) initiative.
“Our dedicated workers are working with full energy to ensure the victory of BJP-NDA in Bihar. Interacting with such dedicated workers always provides new inspiration. On October 15, I will get the opportunity to directly interact with such hard-working workers,” he said, also urging the party workers to share their suggestions.
In the Mahagathbandhan, Mr Ramesh said the talks between the RJD and the Congress leaderships were ongoing and the leaders of the two main parties may meet by Monday. “We have to adjust some new partners in the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, and we have to adjust them too in seat-sharing. In the next two to three days, we expect all the seats to be finalised and declared,” he said.
Sources said the Congress might get more than 50 but fewer than 70 seats, which the party had contested the last time in the Bihar polls. The Congress won 19 assembly seats in the last Bihar polls, while the RJD contested on 144 seats and bagged 75.