Bihar News: INDIA bloc brainstorms on seat allocation ahead of assembly polls, BJP to release first candidate list soon

Bihar News: Mahagathbandhan allies held fresh talks on Monday to resolve the seat-sharing stalemate, while the BJP and JD(U) in the NDA finalised their candidate lists as the assembly elections draw near.

The last day of filing nominations for the first phase of assembly polls in Bihar is 17 October. The first phase will be held on 6 November, and the second phase of voting will be held on 11 November. The results will be announced on 14 November.

Meetings are being held among the Mahagathbandhan or the INDIA bloc partners to reach a mutually acceptable formula for seat distribution. INDIA bloc includes Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party and Left parties. Discussions have been been held by Congress leadership with leaders of its Bihar unit.

Meetings have been held at the residence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and the Congress Party Parliamentary Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi.

Earlier in the day, AICC in-charge for Bihar, Krishna Allavaru, said that the candidate's list will come out after the seat sharing is finalised.

"List will come out after finalisation of the seat-sharing...Our effort is to ensure a good Government for the people of Bihar. So the alliance should not suffer a loss and Bihar should benefit", Allavaru told news agency ANI.

BJP Candidate List Soon

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced its seat-sharing arrangement on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest 29 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest six seats each.

The BJP is expected to release its first list of candidates soon.

Congress leader Manoj Kumar requested that the top leadership of the INDIA bloc also announce the seat-sharing arrangement soon. "We have full faith in our leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. We request that they finalise and announce the seat-sharing arrangement as soon as possible", he said.

The Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, announced its second list of candidates for 65 assembly seats in Bihar on Monday. The list includes candidates for 19 reserved seats (18 SC and 1 ST) and 46 general seats.

(With aANI inputs)