Bihar elections: Uneasiness in NDA camp after LJP bags 29 seats

New Delhi: There is a sense of uneasiness among NDA partners ever since the seat-sharing formula for Bihar elections was announced on Sunday. The BJP leadership is working on easing out frictions and making it a smooth and cordial alliance.

In the seat-sharing formula, it has been agreed that BJP and JDU would contest 101 seats each while LJP (RV) of Union minister Chirag Paswan would contest 29 seats, while HAM(S) of Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLM of Upendra Kushwaha would contest on six seats. The uneasiness is due to the priority given to Chirag Paswan not only in the number of seats but on being given choice seats which at one point used to be BJP strongholds. Seats such as Brahmpur, Govindganj, Arwal, Hisua and Danapur have remained with the BJP in the past and giving these seats to LJP (RV) has created some talk. Chirag Paswan's party claims to have had a 100% strike rate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections winning all five of the seats given to it under the alliance. The party got one seat in the Jharkhand assembly election in 2024 and it won.

HAM(S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi said, "In 2020, we contested eight seats. So, there was hope that at least we will get that many seats. There is a feeling of sadness among party workers. But we are with PM Modi and if a decision has been taken, we will abide by it and ensure a victory for the NDA." RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha also expressed his dissatisfaction through X. On Monday, he posted a couplet in Hindi saying the clouds were conspiring against him, and it rained where his home was.


Throughout the day, a series of meetings took place in Patna among NDA partners to iron out the differences in which BJP leaders Dharmendra Pradhan, Vinod Tawde, Nityanand Rai and others, played a crucial role. The joint NDA press conference to announce the constituency allocation among the allies, scheduled for Monday evening, was postponed.