NEW DELHI: The BJP and its allies – that form the NDA- on Sunday announced its seat-sharing formula for next month’s Bihar Assembly polls. The deal was finalised afte several rounds of hard negotiations and persuasion among the BJP and its allies.
As per the seat sharing deal, the BJP and Nitish Kumar’s JDU will contest 101 seats each while Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan will contest 29 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) led by Upendra Kushwaha and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) led by Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will contest six seats each for the 243-member Bihar Assembly.
The announcement came after a formal talk of top leaders of allies in the BJP Headquarters in New Delhi.
doc2025106659201-2The final decision was taken after a meeting of the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in Delhi attended by PM Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders from Delhi and Bihar.
In the last Assembly elections (2020), the BJP had contested 110 seats, while the Janata Dal (United) contested 115 seats. The BJP had won 74 of those seats. At that time, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) had contested the elections independently. This had caused a division of votes in several constituencies, resulting in losses for the JD(U), which was reduced to just 43 seats.
With Chirag Paswan now back in the NDA fold, how the ruling alliance will benefit from his inclusion will only become clear after the 2025 election results.
Meanwhile, in the opposition camp, the seat-sharing puzzle within the Grand Alliance remains unresolved. Talks are likely to take place in New Delhi on Monday between RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Mukesh Sahani, the president of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), who has been upset over the issue, has also reached New Delhi for discussions with RJD and Congress leaders.
The Assembly election in Bihar — being held in two phases, November 6 and 11, with results to be declared on November 14 — is a high-stakes battle for all players.
