Bihar NDA

Khagaria and Vaishali.

The joint NDA press conference was held at the JD(U) office in the presence of the three NDA partners, which were represented by Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai, state JD(U) chief Bashistha Narayan Singh and LJP chief and state minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

The grand alliance of Opposition parties in Bihar comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP); Hindustani Awam Morcha ( Secular), Sharad Yadav’s Loktantrik Janata Dal and Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasshil Insan Party is yet to make announcement of seat sharing among its partners.

Former chief minister and HAM(S) president Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday said the seat sharing in grand alliance will be announced on Monday.

But given the rumblings within the alliance as every constituent is claiming larger share of seats, it is to be seen whether t h e s e a t s h a r i n g wi l l b e announced on the day.

BJP chief Amit Shah had announced in October 2018 that the party and the JD(U) will contest equal number of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. In December the same year, he had announced that the BJP and the JD(U) will contest 17 seats each, while the LJP will get the remaining six seats in the state. The LJP will also be given a Rajya Sabha berth and Paswan is likely to be its candidate, he had said.