Paswan wins big as NDA shares seats

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday announced its seat sharing list for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. The BJP and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) (JDU) will contest polls on 101 seats each, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest on 29 seats while the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAM), and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) are going to contest on six seats each, said Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister and BJP’s Bihar polls in-charge.

This is the first Assembly poll since Nitish Kumar-led the NDA that the JD(U) will contest fewer seats than the BJP, a clear signal of the BJP’s growing heft in the State.

In a post on X as the meeting of the BJP’s Central Election Committee, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders, started, Pradhan posted that HAM and RLM will field their candidates on six seats each.

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.

Manjhi, whose quota of seats is far short of his public posturing, had asserted his loyalty to PM Modi till “my last breath”. Bihar will again have Modi-Nitish Government, Manjhi added.

The announcement followed days of negotiations involving senior BJP leadership and their allies except the JD(U), which had reached an understanding earlier.

Allies like Paswan, Manjhi and Kushwaha drove a hard bargain with the BJP and blew hot and cold in talks, even as the negotiation continued. Paswan appears to have prevailed on the BJP, which conceded more seats than it was earlier willing to. The 243-member Bihar assembly will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11.

In 2020, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) had contested on 115 seats and the BJP on 110 seats, while Paswan’s party had fought independently due to his differences with Kumar. The NDA had won 125 seats while Mahagathbandhan secured 110 seats in the closely contested election.

PM sounds virtual poll bugle

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to start his campaign for the Bihar Assembly elections with an interactive session with party workers on Wednesday. In a post on X, PM Modi said he would interact with BJP workers directly on October 15 under the Mera Booth, Sabse Majboot initiative.

He also urged the party workers to share their suggestions on the matter.

“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,” PM Modi said.

RJD talks, JMM walks

Seat-sharing woes may continue to plague the INDIA bloc in Bihar with RJD president Lalu Prasad, along with son Tejashwi Yadav, reaching Delhi to hold talks with alliance partners including the major stakeholder of the bloc the Congress. One of its primary member Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) — with which the RJD and Congress combine has a Government in Jharkhand — has already threatened to break ranks with the bloc if their demands are not met.

While BJP-led NDA) has announced seat sharing arrangement, Opposition INDIA bloc is likely to finalise its seat-sharing in coming days and announce its candidates along with a joint manifesto.

NDA Seat-Sharing for Bihar polls

Party	Seats
JD(U)	101
BJP	101
LJP	29
HAM	6
RLM	6