NDA seals Bihar seat-sharing deal: BJP to contest 17 seats, JD(U) 16

NDA has sealed the seat-sharing deal in Bihar

BJP has officially become the senior partner in Bihar NDA after the parties announced the seat-share breakup for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to reporters, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde said the saffron party will contest 17 seats while JD(U) will field candidates in 16 constituencies.

The Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) has been allocated 5 seats while the remaining two will be contested by Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP and JD(U) contested 17 seats each. The NDA had swept the general election last time, with BJP winning all 17 seats and JD(U) clinching 16.

With BJP contesting one more seat than Nitish Kumar's party this year, it has now symbolically become the "big brother" in the alliance.

Earlier this year, Nitish Kumar broke ranks with his Mahagathbandhan partners Congress and RJD to return to the NDA fold.

Nitish's decision to rejoin NDA and form a new government in Bihar came as a big boost to BJP, which was left isolated after the JD(U) chief had formed the Grand Alliance with Congress, RJD and other parties.