Bihar polls: NDA seat-sharing announcement in 2-3 days, BJP leaders hold talks with Chirag

Chirag Paswan has demanded that his party be allocated at least two Assembly seats in each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies it won

PATNA: With nominations for the first phase of assembly polls set to start from October 10, a final seat-sharing announcement of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will take another two-three days. After meeting alliance partners in Patna on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and the party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde held a meeting with Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader and Union minister Chirag Paswan in New Delhi Tuesday afternoon to know about his demand.

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Education Minister and Bihar BJP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and National Working President JD(U) Sanjay Jha, during a courtesy meeting, in Patna on Sunday. (ANI Photo)(Aftab Alam)

Bihar minister Mangal Pandey was also present in the meeting that lasted close to one hour.

LJP (RV) leaders familiar with the meeting indicated that the party is aiming to contest 45 to 54 seats in Bihar election, whereas the BJP is willing to give 20-25 seats only.

Chirag Paswan has demanded that the party be allocated at least two Assembly seats in each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies it won.

The BJP leaders assured Paswan that his demands would be discussed at the party level and a response would be given to him soon. People familiar with the matter said that another meeting would be held between Chirag Paswan and top BJP leaders in the coming days, where a final agreement on seat-sharing could be reached.

The people said that the meeting not only discussed the seat-sharing issue, but also the Bihar election environment and potential election issues, as well.

BJP leaders said that Chirag would be travelling to Khagaria on Wednesday to attend an event organised to commemorate the death anniversary of his father and former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan. “So, it is highly unlikely that the seat sharing would reach a final stage by Thursday,” said a BJP leader. It is expected that the NDA will announce the seat-sharing in Patna itself.

A LJP (RV) leader said Chirag has also requested for Brahmapur and Govindganj seats for two of his trusted leaders --- Brahmapur seat for his parliamentary board chairman, Hulas Pandey. In the 2020 elections, the NDA had given this seat to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). Pandey, who contested on LJP ticket came in second with 30,035 votes. VIP candidate Jairaj Chaudhary from the NDA camp finished third, while the RJD won the seat.

Similarly, Chirag wants Govindganj seat for his state president Raju Tiwari. The seat is presently held by the BJP. In 2020, Tiwari also contested the seat in 2020 and came third with 31,300 votes.

Manjhi’s demand

Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) leader and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, too, is demanding no less than 15 seats. “Every regional party has its aspirations to become a state party,” said Manjhi while talking to media persons.

However, the BJP has offered him 10 seats and had even identified seven of these seats, according to people aware of the details.