Reached agreement on Lok Sabha seat-sharing with BJP: Nitish Kumar

PATNA: Two weeks after JD(U) expressed its unwillingness to agree with the BJP’s draft formula of “20-20 seats” for its NDA allies from Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party’s national president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said he and BJP chief Amit Shah have worked out a seat-sharing formula for the coming Lok Sabha polls and the JD(U) has got a “respectable share.”

“Two rounds of talk (on seat-sharing) with BJP chief Amit Shah have been held. I have finalised seat-sharing with BJP’s national president. I can assure you that we have got a respectable share. However, I cannot reveal the number of seats for JD(U) at this moment because we have resolved that we will announce the details together. I have not revealed the number of seats to even those people who remain around me,” sources told TOI while quoting Nitish’s address to the party colleagues at the JD(U)’s state executive body meet held at the CM’s residence in Patna.

“Nitish further told his party spokespersons (who were present at the meeting) not to speak ‘anything about seat-sharing’ in media,” a JD(U) senior who was present in the meet told TOI.


The close-door executive body meeting continued for nearly four hours in which the party leaders also discussed strategies for the Lok Sabha polls in the presence of senior leaders including its national secretary general KC Tyagi, general secretary Sanjay Jha and poll strategist Prashant Kishor.

Minutes after the executive body meet, JD(U) national general secretary (organisation) and party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha RCP Singh told reporters that the seat sharing with the BJP was in the final stage and it would be officially announced soon by the top leaders.”

He also said that JD(U) would give priority to youths in ticket distribution for the forthcoming general elections.

Earlier on August 30, the BJP had unofficially proposed a ‘20-20 formula’ to its NDA allies from Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Under that formula, the BJP wanted to contest half of the state’s 40 seats, leaving the other 20 to its allies. Of 20 seats for allies, 12 seats were proposed for Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), six for Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP and two for Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP.

The JD(U) had then expressed its unhappiness over the “20-20 formula.”

Even two days ago (on September 14) RCP Singh had claimed that talks for seat sharing among the state’s NDA partners was almost in the final stage and the seat-sharing would be announced “very soon.” However, the RLSP had refuted Singh’s claim.