Talks between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) over seat sharing in Bihar for 2019 Lok Sabha election concluded without any concrete decision late on Thursday. Paswan met Union Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Friday to iron out differences. A final announcement regarding seat sharing is expected on Saturday. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is also in Delhi where he is likely to meet BJP leaders to discuss the complex issue of seat sharing.
The BJP and Janata Dal-United had declared earlier that they will contest an equal number of seats in Bihar in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP chief Amit Shah met Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag at his Delhi residence on Thursday evening. However, the details of the meeting is yet to be revealed. Sources said Paswan continues to be unhappy with the seat share being offered to LJP. Earlier in the morning Ram Vilas Paswan said that "there was no unhappiness." "Chirag is the Parliamentary Board chairman and he will talk about the issue," he said.
The meeting took place on a day Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), a former constituent of BJP-led NDA, formally joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav first went to meet Chirag and Ram Vilas Paswan and the three leaders later went to the residence of Amit Shah. They were joined there by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The meeting lasted about half an hour.
Bihar Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, younger brother of Ram Vilas Paswan, had said on Wednesday that the party "wanted that seat sharing issue be resolved by December 31, as elections have come closer and a lot of preparation has to be done."
Chirag Paswan had also said that BJP should listen to its allies before it's too late and reach a seat-sharing arrangement or bear the losses following it.
LJP sources said the BJP's defeat in the five state polls have ignited a rethink in the party over its ties with the saffron party.
Chirag, sources said, had written a letter to Jaitley with a copy to Modi after the results were announced on December 11 and asked him to list the benefits of demonetisation so that he can "explain" them to people, they said.
WATCH: Ram Vilas Paswan to meet Arun Jaitley to discuss seat sharing for 2019 polls
(With inputs from agencies)
