Bihar polls: NDA reaches consensus on seat sharing

Patna, Sept 12: The NDA is expected to make a formal announcement regarding seat sharing for the Bihar elections by today.

Meetings that lasted late into the night yesterday appear to have sorted out the issues pertaining to seat sharing and the BJP is all set to contest in 160 assembly seats in the forthcoming Bihar elections.

Until yesterday the BJP had indicated that it would contest 170 seats, but had to make some adjustments as some of the allies wanted a larger share of seats to contest.

What is the seat sharing arrangement?

The BJP will contest 160 seats while the RLSP will contest in 25. The LJP and the HAM-S will contest in 40 and 18 seats respectively, sources in the BJP informed OneIndia. During the meeting held in New Delhi, it was decided that the seat sharing issue should not become a bone of contention in the run up to the elections.

All the allies will fight as one force as the opposition is waiting for hiccups in the NDA. It is going to be a tough election and hence a united front is needed, the BJP has told its allies. A formal announcement on the seat sharing arrangement will be made today evening.

BJP wants numbers on its own:

The atmosphere is extremely volatile in this high stake election. The BJP was not prepared to settle for anything less than 160 seats as it want to attain a majority on its own. In this way its dependence on the allies reduces a great deal.

Moreover the recent statements by Jiten Ram Manjhi has not gone down too well with the party. The BJP had however managed to broker peace between Manjhi and Paswan. The BJP has told its allies that there should not be anymore public outbursts and if there are any issues they need to be sorted out in private. Let us not give the opposition any ammunition, the BJP has also told its allies.

OneIndia News