The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) on Tuesday sealed a seat-sharing deal for the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. As per the formula, the JD(U) will contest from 122 seats and the BJP from 121 seats.
Addressing the media in Patna, Chief Minister and JD-U's national president Nitish Kumar said that the JD(U) will accommodate Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM while the BJP will take care of the Vikassheel Insaan Party of Mukesh Sahani.
"JD(U) has been allotted 122 seats. Under that quota, we are giving 7 seats to HAM. BJP has 121 seats. Talks are underway, BJP will allot seats to Vikassheel Insaan Party under their quota," he said.
The Bihar Legislative Assembly comprises 243 chairs. In the outgoing Assembly, the JD(U) has 71 MLAs and BJP has 53 members. The LJP, which walked out of the alliance this Sunday, has two MLAs. The LJP has said that it will contest from 143 seats and appealed to the people not to vote for Nitish Kumar.
In 2005, the JD(U) contested from 139 seats while the BJP from 102 seats. In 2010, JD(U) had contested from 141 seats while the BJP 102. When elections were held in 2015, the JD(U) was a constituent of the grand alliance. The JD(U) and RJD contested 101 seats each and the remaining 41 went to the Congress. The NDA comprised BJP, LJP, RLSP and HAM. The BJP contested from 157 seats while the LJP 42. The RLSP and HAM were given 23 and 21 seats, respectively.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP and JD(U) contested together. The BJP and JD(U) contested from 17 seats each and the remaining six went to the LJP.
Polling in Bihar will be held in three-phase on October 28, November 3, and November 7. Results will be declared on November 10.
