NDA-BJP Alliance Finalizing Bihar Assembly Seat-Sharing With Chirag Paswan's LJP

New Delhi:

The seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA alliance for Bihar's assembly elections is expected to be finalized within the next two to three days, according to sources who spoke to NDTV. The announcement will likely take place in Patna.

Negotiations between Chirag Paswan and the BJP are progressing toward an agreement. Currently, the BJP is evaluating the demands presented by the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who serves as BJP's Bihar poll in-charge, and state in-charge Tawde met with Paswan earlier today, with a second meeting scheduled later.

The regional BJP ally has adopted a firm negotiating stance. While Paswan is seeking 40-45 assembly seats, the BJP is currently willing to allocate only 25 seats.

The younger Paswan has suggested that seat allocation should be based on his party's performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it achieved a perfect 100 percent success rate by winning all five contested seats, as well as its showing in the 2020 Assembly elections.

Additionally, he has requested that at least two assembly seats be allocated within each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies currently represented by LJP (Ram Vilas).

Paswan has also sought seats for senior LJP leaders. BJP representatives have assured him that his demands will be discussed internally with a response to follow.

Meanwhile, Paswan appears to have a strategic alternative if BJP negotiations stall. His party has indicated that an alliance with election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraj Party, considered a wild card in this election, remains a possibility.

Although an actual partnership between the two seems unlikely, it remains to be seen whether the BJP will respond to what many view as essentially a negotiating tactic.

During the meeting with Paswan, discussions extended beyond electoral matters to issues of emotional significance for the party, sources revealed.

Tomorrow marks the death anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan, the party's founder and Chirag Paswan's father, and preparations for commemorating this occasion were also discussed with the BJP leaders.