NDA meeting in Delhi: Amidst the hustle and bustle of Bihar Assembly elections, the long tussle over seat sharing in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is now nearing its end. According to the big news received quoting sources, the official announcement of seat sharing by NDA is likely to be made tomorrow (Saturday) in Delhi. With this announcement, the dust on the electoral equations of BJP and JDU in Bihar will be cleared and the role of smaller allies will also become clear. Leaders of all the major parties included in NDA, BJP, JDU, LJP (RV), Hindustani Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Morcha will reach Delhi tomorrow. This is where the seat distribution will be finalized and the announcement is likely to be made by the evening. However, there is no clarity at present whether this announcement will be made in the joint press conference of NDA or not. The last round of talks between senior leaders of BJP and JDU regarding the number of seats and arrangement of allies have been completed.
Round of meetings in Delhi: Brainstorming on candidates
Before the announcement of seat sharing, there will be an intensive round of meetings of the ruling party in Delhi, in which the election strategy and candidates will be decided. An important meeting of BJP’s core group will be held in Delhi on Sunday. After this, the names of the candidates for Bihar Assembly elections will be finalized in the BJP Central Election Committee meeting on Monday. BJP’s election in-charge and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been very active in Patna and Delhi for the last few days. He met JDU leader Sanjay Jha, where the last round of talks took place on seat sharing. According to sources, efforts are still going on to resolve the claims of smaller allies on some sitting seats of JDU, the final decision on which will be taken in the Delhi meeting.
BJP-JDU left seats for smaller allies
The biggest change this time in seat distribution is that both BJP and JDU have agreed to contest elections on fewer seats. This step has been taken to keep the smaller partners in the alliance and give them due respect. There are reports that BJP and JDU are ready to contest elections on 100 and 102 seats respectively. This number is much less than the seats contested by both the parties in the 2020 assembly elections. Meanwhile, senior leaders of Janata Dal (United) will hold a press conference at the state office in Patna on Saturday at 3 pm. Former RJD state president Lalan Singh, JDU national working president Sanjay Jha, Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and JDU state president Umesh Kushwaha will be present in it. In this press conference, information on election strategy, updates on seat sharing and party preparations is likely to be given.
Chirag Paswan’s LJP(RV) stake increased
In the seat sharing, most eyes are on Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) National President and Union Minister Chirag Paswan, who has demanded a larger share for his party. LJP (RV) is demanding 30 to 35 seats, which is much more than the last election. Chirag Paswan had recently said that “seat sharing talks are going on in a positive manner and are in the final stages.” Chirag has called an important meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board at the party’s central office in New Delhi tomorrow (Saturday). In this meeting, there will be a detailed discussion on the assembly election strategy and seat sharing with NDA. The proposal to fully authorize Chirag to take the final decision on seat sharing and select candidates is also included in the party’s agenda. LJP has also staked claim on some sitting seats of JDU like Mahnar of Vaishali, Matihani of Begusarai and Chakai of Jamui. BJP’s Bihar election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan is in talks with JDU to reach a consensus on this issue. Voting for Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, while the results will be declared on November 14. In such a situation, it is very important for NDA to announce seat sharing on time in terms of election preparations.