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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  BJP, allies bridge gaps, reach consensus on seats for Bihar polls
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BJP, allies bridge gaps, reach consensus on seats for Bihar polls

BJP to contest 160 of the total 243 seats in the state assembly, and its partners in coalition the remaining 83

NDA leaders have emphasized that the alliance will contest the election against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on the agenda of promoting Bihar’s economic development and combating corruption. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/MintPremium
NDA leaders have emphasized that the alliance will contest the election against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on the agenda of promoting Bihar’s economic development and combating corruption. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finally managed to bridge differences over seat-sharing arrangements for the October-November Bihar assembly polls on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 160 seats of the 243 seats and its partners in the coalition the remaining 83.

Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party will contest 40 seats, former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) 20 seats and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) 23 seats in the polls.

“The seat-sharing arrangement has been a consensus decision with all NDA alliance partners. We will contest elections on the issue of development," BJP president Amit Shah said. “We want the people of Bihar to give the NDA a chance to form the government this time. We want to make Bihar a developed state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

There were hiccups over seat-sharing within the NDA because Manjhi was upset at being offered fewer seats than he wanted for his party.

The initial offer of 15 seats was raised to 20 after several rounds of negotiations.

“It has been decided that some of the members of Manjhi’s party will contest on BJP tickets, but the actual number of such contestants will be decided later," Shah said.

The assembly elections, which will be held in the state in five phases—on 12, 16, 28 October and 1 and 5 November—pit the NDA against a so-called grand alliance led by Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United), and comprising Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.

The result will be announced on 8 November.

“There are no differences. We are all unanimous and we will defeat the grand alliance," Manjhi said.

NDA leaders have emphasized that the alliance will contest the election against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on the agenda of promoting Bihar’s economic development and combating corruption.

The JDU, a former ally of the BJP, parted ways with the party in 2013 after the latter chose Narendra Modi to head its election campaign.

BJP leaders have stressed that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has joined hands with the Congress party, which battled several corruption scandals in its second term, and the RJD, which has often been held responsible for a deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar.

They have come together with the single-point agenda of defeating the BJP, these leaders say.

“The so-called grand alliance is shattered now. Even the chief of the Janata parivar (Mulayam Singh Yadav) has left the alliance. People in Bihar want to vote for development and change in government because they know that the NDA can bring development to the state," Shah said.

The BJP’s parliamentary board will meet on 15 September to choose the candidates who will contest the elections.

“Young voters will be our focus because they, too, are concerned about the development of the state and fear the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. There has been political instability in the state since BJP walked out of the government in Bihar. People want a stable and clean government that works for their development," said Sushil Modi, former deputy chief minister of Bihar and senior BJP leader.

Nitish Kumar broke the alliance in 2013.

Political analysts said economic development will be the most important issue in the Bihar elections, and that the seat sharing arrangement will now make the NDA a more coherent force in the state to articulate the theme.

“Development is the most important issue and people have to decided whose (concept of) development they want to choose—Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development or Nitish Kumar’s promise of development. But caste and community (issues) will also play a role in this election," said P.K. Dutta, a political science professor at Delhi University.

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Published: 14 Sep 2015, 02:27 PM IST
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