In Bihar, JDU-BJP strike a 50-50 seat-sharing deal

The ruling Janata Dal-United (JDU) led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Bharatiy Janata Party (BJP) have reportedly agreed on a 50-50 seat-sharing agreement for the October-November state Assembly elections.

As per an NDTV report, the JDU will contest in 122 of the total 243 seats. The BJP will field candidates in 121 seats.

Related News: ‘Paswan ka Chirag’ set to light up Bihar poll scene

It is said that the BJP will also give tickets to Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and the JD(U) will accommodate former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Manjhi and 18 others had left the JD(U) and floated his party, the HAM, in 2015. The name of the party was later changed to HAM-Secular. The party contested 21 seats in 2015 but won only the Imamganj seat. Manjhi himself lost from the Makhdumpur seat.

The BJP also ha an uncertain ally in the LJP as it is widely rumoured that party leader Ram Vilas Paswan’s son Chirag Paswan is trying to persuade his father to leave the NDA and contest 143 seats on its own.

Related News: Grand Alliance announces seat-sharing deal; RJD to contest in 144 seats

The Bihar elections are on October 28, November 3, and 7. The results will be out on November 10.

The opposition alliance is projecting Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister candidate. The opposition will target the ruling party and the government over multiple issues including the handling of the pandemic, migrant crisis, and ‘weak’ handling of the flood situation.

Tejashwi and Co had also been attacking the government and the NDA as an ‘anti-farmer government’ after the passage of the farm laws.