Bihar seat sharing finalized
In the politically significant state of Bihar, where elections for 40 Lok Sabha seats are scheduled to take place over seven phases starting on April 19, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced on Monday the seat-sharing agreement among its five member coalition.
The main BJP ally, the Janata Dal (United), will contest from 16 seats, one fewer than the 2019 battle. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest from 17 seats, the same as in 2019. The BJP will be running for more seats than the JD(U) for the first time.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) faction led by Chirag Paswan will contest five seats, one of which is Hajipur, the current MP and home of Chirag’s estranged uncle, Union minister Pashupati Paras. This indicates that Chirag, the son of renowned Dalit leader Ramvilas Paswan, has been selected by the alliance ahead of his brother Paras, who rebelled in 2021 and started his own party.
Jitan Ram Majhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) will compete for one seat apiece.
The BJP’s national general secretary and Bihar organiser, Vinod Tawde, claimed that the NDA’s allies had arranged the seat distribution in less than 48 hours. “Although the parties in the NDA will fight on their respective symbols, we are fighting together…and all the parties will fight with all their might,” Tawde said.
The NDA won 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in 2019, sweeping the state. The BJP secured 17 seats, the JD(U) 16, and the LJP 6.
Sanjay Jha, a Rajya Sabha MP for JD(U), joined BJP leaders on Monday to announce seat-sharing.
The JD(U) will run from Valmikinagar, Sitamarhi, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Madhepura, Gopalganj, Siwan, Bhagalpur, Banka, Munger, Nalanda, Jehanabad, and Sheohar, in accordance with the seat-sharing agreement. Gaya and Karakat, two JD(U) seats that were contested in 2019, were won by HAM-S and RLSP, respectively. Both of the smaller parties were members of the Grand Alliance of the Opposition in 2019.
In exchange, the JD(U) was able to win the Sheohar Lok Sabha seat, which Rama Devi of the BJP held in 2019. According to senior party leaders who are aware of the specifics, Lovely Anand, the wife of former MP Anand Mohan, who was freed from prison last year after serving 15 years for a murder conviction, is expected to run for office in the JD(U).
On Monday, Lovely Anand, a former member of the Lok Sabha from Vaishali in Bihar, joined the JD(U). On February 12, during Nitish Kumar’s trust vote, Chetan Anand, the son of Lovely Anand, who is an MLA for Rashtriya Janata Dal, cast his vote in favor of the NDA.
The BJP will be running from Nawada in lieu of Sheohar. Chandan Singh, a LJP candidate who joined the Paras faction in 2021, won the seat in 2019. West Champaran, East Champaran, Aurangabad, Madhubani, Araria, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Maharajganj, Saran, Ujiarpur, Begusarai, Patna Sahib, Patiliputra, Ara, Buxar, and Sasaram are the other seats from which the BJP will run.
Jamui, Hajipur, Vaishali, Samastipur, and Khagaria remained the LJP’s stronghold. It is probable that Chirag Paswan will compete from Hajipur, a seat that his uncle Pashupati Paras was vying for.
Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader, Samrat Chaudhary, said talks are on with Paras to placate him. “Talks with Paras are still on,” said Chaudhary.
“I would like to thank PM Modi for the way he kept the respect of our party,” said Chirag Paswan.
The JD(U) also expressed satisfaction on seat-sharing. “The seat-sharing was finalised amicably. When we contested in 2019, all seats barring one or two were won by us by over 200,000 margin. The way development has taken place in Bihar, we will repeat the performance,” said JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a BJP functionary said: “While the BJP won all the seats it contested in 2019, we will redouble efforts to ensure there is no room for loss of even one seat.”
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