NDA seals Bihar deal; 101 seats each for BJP, JD(U)

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday finalised its seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Bihar elections, announcing that the two main coalition partners, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) or JD (U), will each contest 101 of the state's 243 assembly seats.

- Vijay Swaroop

In a set of simultaneous and near-identical posts on X, senior leaders of the alliance announced the deal, which was brokered after hectic negotiations in Delhi and Patna. Apart from the BJP and JD(U), the arrangement allocates 29 seats to Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), or LJP (RV), and six each to both the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), or HAM (S).

"The NDA allies have completed the distribution of seats in a cordial atmosphere. All workers and leaders of NDA parties warmly welcome this," Union minister and Bihar BJP in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan posted on X.

This will be the first election since 2005 — when the JD(U) joined the NDA — that the party won't contest more Bihar assembly seats than the BJP. To be sure, it contested the 2015 elections as part of an alliance with the RJD and Congress.

"Leaders and workers of NDA are resolved and united to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister again with a massive majority. Bihar is ready, NDA government again," JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha posted on X.

In the 2020 elections, the JD(U) contested 115 seats, followed by the BJP with 110. While the BJP won 74 seats, the JD(U) secured only 43. HAM(S) fielded candidates on seven seats and won four five years ago.