Bihar polls: Differences emerge in NDA over seat sharing

Patna, Oct 8 (PTI) Bickering among the ruling NDA partners in Bihar over seat sharing has come to the fore, even though the BJP, which held a meeting on Wednesday on the issue, claimed that everything is fine in the alliance.

Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that he was "requesting and not making a claim" that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) be given a respectable number of seats, otherwise the party might not contest the election.

Another Union minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for at least 25 more.

Assembly elections will be held on November 6 and 11 in the state, while votes will be counted on November 14.

At a time when the BJP's Election Committee meeting to discuss the seat sharing arrangements among the NDA constituents was on in Patna, Manjhi told reporters: "It will be a humiliation for me and my party, if we are not given at least 15 seats in the coming assembly polls. If we get 15, we can easily win at least 8-9 seats and will become a recognised party".

Even after 10 years of establishment, HAM remains an unrecognised party.

"I have been helping the NDA for a long. So, I am requesting the NDA leaders and not making a claim. My party would prefer not to contest the polls, if we don't get a respectable number of seats. But, I must make it clear that even if we don't contest polls, our party will keep working for the NDA partners in the coming polls," Manjhi said.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, besides Vinod Tawde, met party leaders in Patna to discuss the seat sharing arrangements and finalise the list of party candidates.

Talking to reporters, BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said, "Everything is fine within the NDA. The final decision about the seat sharing arrangements and other issues, including names of the party candidates, will be taken in the parliamentary board meeting".

Jaiswal also attended the party's Election Committee meeting held at the BJP state office in Patna on Wednesday. The meeting lasted for more than four hours.

Pradhan along with other senior BJP leaders had earlier met Manjhi also to discuss the seat sharing arrangements.

According to sources in NDA, the bigger allies JD(U) and the BJP are likely to contest 102 and 101 seats, respectively.

Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for at least 25 more.

Senior leaders in the LJP (RV) are of the opinion that the party should get at least 45 seats, said a party leader on the condition of anonymity.

When asked about this, Paswan, who visited his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's birthplace at Shaharbanni in Khagaria district on Wednesday, told reporters, "Things will be finalised very soon".

The party has called an emergency meeting of is leaders in Patna on Thursday to discuss issues related to the assembly polls.

In the 2020 elections, Paswan walked out of NDA and contested separately, winning just one seat but damaging the JD(U) in dozens of constituencies and contributing to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party posting its lowest tally in two decades, 43. PTI PKD NN