Bihar polls: NDA allies tussle over constituency allocation

Amid ongoing rumours of discontent, NDA functionaries have maintained that the seat-sharing discussion was amicable

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) – allies in Bihar’s NDA – on Monday withheld sharing the breakup of constituencies allocated to partners, triggering murmurs of dissatisfaction within the alliance.

It is for the first time that Nitish Kumar’s party is accepting parity with the BJP in the electoral division.

According to a Times of India report, discussions involving BJP state chief Dilip Jaiswal, deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, ministers Nitin Nabin and Vijay Choudhary, and JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha failed to resolve the impasse, with insiders attributing the deadlock to a tussle over key constituencies.

Polls for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly are set to take place on November 6 and November 11, and the counting of votes will be held on November 14.

Earlier on Sunday, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar polls, with the BJP and JD(U) to contest on 101 seats each, the LJP (Ram Vilas) on 29 seats, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha on six seats, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) on six seats.

The NDA partners include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

NDA says seat-deal ‘amicable’

Amid ongoing rumours of discontent, NDA functionaries have maintained that the seat-sharing discussion was amicable. Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary mentioned Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S), calling him NDA’s “guardian” in Bihar and insisting he was happy with the six seats allocated to his party, according to the TOI report.

Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) President Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said that NDA has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls, following what he described as "amicable discussions" among partners.

"The issue of seat allocation among NDA parties has been resolved through amicable discussions. The discussion on which party will contest which seat is also in its final stage with positive talks. Under the leadership of Modi ji and Nitish ji, all NDA parties are fully prepared with unity. Bihar is ready. NDA government," Paswan wrote in a post on X.

However, RLM chief Kushwaha fell back on poetry to suggest not everything is hunky-dory. “Aaj baadalon ne phir saazish ki, jahaan mera ghar tha wahin baarish ki. Agar falak ko zid hai bijliyaan giraane ki, to hamein bhi zid hai wahin par aashiyaan basaane ki (Today, the clouds conspired again, rained where my home was. If the sky is adamant on striking lightning, I am also adamant on building a home there),” he said, apologising to his supporters for not being able to contest more seats.

Later, he said, that the issue of seat allocation has been resolved through amicable discussions, expressing faith in the leadership of PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar.

Earlier today, Janata Dal (United) MLA Gopal Mandal staged a sit-in protest outside Nitish Kumar’s official residence in Patna, seeking a party ticket to contest from his traditional Gopalpur assembly constituency in the upcoming Bihar polls.