NDA seat-sharing ends in stalemate as Chirag Paswan, Manjhi upset BJP’s calculations

Political parties in Bihar continued to hold a series of meetings on Wednesday to discuss seat-sharing arrangements. However, both the major alliances, the NDA and the INDIA bloc, failed to reach any consensus.

The BJP held a marathon meeting at its state headquarters, chaired by the party’s Bihar election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and co-incharge Vinod Tawde. The key leaders, who were present at the meeting, were Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary, and Vijay Sinha.

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Speaking to the media, Jaiswal said the meeting focused on the constituencies where the BJP had lost in the 2020 Assembly elections. A panel will be formed to review the factors that worked against BJP candidates. The party has already completed a review of constituencies it had won in 2020.

Sources indicate that the BJP also finalised a list of 110 probable candidates during the meeting. The list will be sent to the Central Parliamentary Committee, which will take the final decision.

The meeting also reportedly discussed the demands of alliance partners, although leaders refrained from disclosing any outcome.

The issue of seat sharing within the NDA grew more complex on Wednesday as LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan and HAM(S) president Jitan Ram Manjhi stuck to their respective demands over the number and choice of seats. Paswan’s insistence on a few key constituencies has further complicated the matter.

Chirag Paswan is believed to have demanded the seats where his party stands a strong chance of winning. These include five specific constituencies Govindganj, Lalganj, Vaishali, Matihani, and Sikandra, all currently held by NDA partners.

Govindganj and Lalganj are represented by BJP MLAs, Vaishali by a JD (U) MLA, and Sikandra by a HAM(S) MLA.

Paswan has also staked claim to the Matihani seat, which was won by LJP (R) candidate Raj Kumar Singh in 2020. However, Singh later joined JD(U), creating further confusion.

The core issue is that while the BJP is willing to part with two of its seats for Chirag Paswan, JD(U) and HAM(S) are unwilling to give up their sitting constituencies.

Meanwhile, Jitan Ram Manjhi announced that if the BJP fails to meet his demand for 15 seats, his party will not contest the upcoming elections in Bihar. He emphasised that contesting elections isn’t solely about gaining power, but about giving his party a lasting political identity.

He added that contesting under unfavourable conditions would be meaningless if it doesn’t help strengthen the party’s organisation or uphold the trust of its workers and supporters.