NDA seals Bihar deal: BJP, JD(U) to fight in 101 seats each; Chirag’s LJP gets 29

THE NDA ON Sunday agreed to a seat-sharing formula for next month’s Bihar Assembly elections, with the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) set to contest 101 each.

- SANTOSH SINGH & DEEPTIMAN TIWARY

The deal, confirmed by JD(U) national working president Sanjay Jha and BJP’s election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, gives the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vikas) 29 seats, while the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of Jitan Ram Manjhi and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) of Upendra Kushwaha will contest six seats each.

This is the first time since they allied in 1996 that the BJP and the JD(U) will contest an equal number of seats in the Assembly polls. In 2020, the JD(U) contested 122 seats and the BJP 121, with the JD(U) giving the HAM(S) seven seats out of its share and the BJP allocating 11 seats to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahani from its share.