The National Democratic Alliance-NDA has announced seat sharing for the Bihar Elections. In a social media post, BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde informed that the BJP and JDU will contest on 101 seats each, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) on 29 seats, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustani Awam Morcha on 6-6 seats each.
The announcement came after a formal talk of top leaders of allies in the BJP Headquarters in New Delhi.
After the marathon talks and rounds of persuasion among the BJP and its allies, a final decision on seat sharing in the NDA has been reached today. Both major parties in the alliance – the BJP and the JD(U) – have had to reduce their share of seats this time to save the alliance amid elections.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, 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, the seat-sharing puzzle within the Grand Alliance remains unresolved. To break the deadlock, talks are likely to take place in New Delhi 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.