Bihar polls: NDA, INDIA bloc hold marathon talks to resolve seat-sharing tussle

PATNA/BENGALURU/DELHI — The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday held hectic parleys to iron out the differences over seat-sharing with their respective allies, who are jostling for more seats in the next month's high-stakes Bihar polls.

While the BJP's Election Committee meeting to discuss seat-sharing arrangements among NDA constituents was held in Patna, the Congress brass met in Delhi to discuss party candidates and is learnt to have finalised 25 of its candidates.

Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose party is a constituent of NDA, made it clear that he is "requesting and not making a claim" that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) be given a respectable number of seats in the upcoming assembly polls.

"It will be a humiliation for me and my party if we are not given at least 15 seats in the assembly polls. If we get 15 seats, we can easily win at least 8-9 seats, and we will become a recognised party. I consider it a blot (kalank) that even after 10 years of establishment, HAM remains an unrecognised party. So, I am requesting the NDA leaders (anurodh kar rahe hain) and not making a claim", Manjhi told reporters in Patna.

Manjhi indicated he would have liked his four-MLA-strong party to contest "half" of Bihar's 243 assembly constituencies, but was willing to "settle for 15" seats to avoid fighting against NDA partners.

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The former Bihar CM came out with a post on his X handle, which seemed inspired by a famous passage in Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's war poem "Rashmirathi", wherein Lord Krishna had tried to broker peace with Duryodhana, whose obstinacy led to the epic battle of the Mahabharat.

"Ho Nyay Aagar To Aadha Do (give us half of the pie if you wish to do justice)", wrote Manjhi, apparently addressing the BJP.

Manjhi added, "Par usme bhi yadi badha ho, to de do keval 15 gram, rakho apni dharti tamam (if you cannot dispense with a fair share, give us 15 villages - a metaphor for seats - and keep the rest for yourself)".

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, besides Vinod Tawde, met senior party leaders in Patna to discuss the seat-sharing arrangements and will submit a detailed report to the party's top leadership in Delhi. Final decision will be taken by the party's Central leadership in Delhi, sources said.

Manjhi also asserted that "My party would prefer not to contest polls, if we don't get a respectable number of seats. But, I must make it clear that even if we don't contest polls, our party will keep working for the NDA partners".

According to sources in NDA, the bigger allies JD(U) and BJP are likely to contest 102 and 101 seats, respectively.

Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for 25 more.

Senior leaders in the LJP (RV) believe that the party should get at least 45 seats, said a party leader on condition of anonymity.

In the 2020 assembly elections, Paswan walked out of NDA and contested separately, winning just one seat but damaging the JD(U) in dozens of constituencies, resulting in its lowest tally in two decades, 43.

In the Grand Alliance, sources said, the RJD is likely to contest 135-140 seats. The party has offered the Congress 50-52 seats, lower than the party's demand of 70 seats.

In the 2020 assembly polls, the Congress had fought for 70 seats but won only 19 seats. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, another big constituent of the INDIA bloc, also appeared unhappy with the 20-25 seats offered to it. Five years ago, the CPI (ML) won 12 of the 19 seats it contested, and is reportedly demanding 40 seats this time.

The VIP (Vikas-sheel Insaan Party), another constituent of the INDIA bloc, is adamant on contesting at least 40 seats.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed confidence that the party will resolve seat-sharing issues with its allies ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls. "We are solving it....," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Ruling out any differences among the NDA partners over the seats, senior BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh told reporters in Patna that "Nitish Kumar is NDA’s face for the chief ministerial post. Everything is fine within the NDA… seat-sharing arrangements are underway and the final formula will be finalised soon."

He, however, took a dig at the INDIA bloc and claimed that the Mahagathbandhan is a "divided" house.

"The Congress has already made it clear that Tejashwi Yadav will be the chief ministerial face of RJD, not of the Mahagathbandhan. Now, RJD supremo Lalu Yadav is worried and frightened after the statement of the Congress leadership … The leadership of Mahagathbandhan has not yet been decided. I must say that NDA's policy, leadership, and intent are all set, and there is no resentment at all," he said.

Interacting with journalists in Patna, Union Minister Chirag Paswan, the chief of the LJP (Ram Vilas), said every worker of the party will step into the electoral battle with the vision of putting "Bihar and Biharis first".

Meanwhile, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told reporters, "People are fed up with the NDA government in the state. The Mahagathbandhan will form the government with a comfortable margin in the state".

The assembly elections in Bihar will be held in two phases — November 6 and 11 — while the counting of votes will be done on November 14.