E-Paper
'Talks ongoing', says Congress as focus shifts on Bihar Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing plan
As people await the Opposition's seat-sharing formula in Bihar, state Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru said talks were ongoing to finalise the allocation.
With the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s seat-sharing plan announced, all eyes are now on how the Mahagathbandhan grouping will contest the Bihar Assembly elections.
As people await the Opposition's seat-sharing formula in Bihar, state Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru said talks were ongoing to finalise the seat allocation, following which a list will be released.
"Our effort is to form a good government for the people of Bihar without any loss to the alliance and to the benefit of Bihar. The talks are ongoing," he told news agency ANI.
It is expected that the top leadership of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar will soon unveil a seat-sharing plan. Congress leader Manoj Kumar has reportedly indicated that the plan may be out on Tuesday.
"We have full faith in our leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. We request that they finalise and announce the seat-sharing arrangement as soon as possible," Kumar was quoted as saying by ANI.
The Congress leader also assured that while some may speculate that the Mahagathbandhan was delaying the key announcement, he said "our leaders hold meetings to ensure there is no injustice (against party leaders)", further adding that the seat-sharing formula may be disclosed by October 14.
The remarks came after the NDA shared its seat-sharing plan on Sunday, with 101 seats each for the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU), six seats each for the Rashtriya Lok Morcha of Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha, and 29 seats for Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
Elections to the 243-seat Bihar Legislative Assembly will take place in two phases - on November 6 and 11, and results will be announced on November 14, the Election Commission announced last week.
Apart from the ruling NDA and the Opposition Mahagathbandhan, a new player in the form of Prashant Kishor and his party Jan Suraaj, will also be in the fray.
