Updated: September 18, 2020 11:56:06 am
Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi. (Proceedings)
the JD (U) is looking to compete 115 seats at the Bihar Assembly polls, leaving 128 seats for the BJP, which should accommodate the LJP of its quota, sources said.
The JD (U) and BJP have been cautiously treading on seat sharing amid the LJP’s aggressive stance.
Sources from JD (U) told The Indian Express that the party had been pushing their claim to contest 115 seats. “In 2010, there were only JD (U) and BJP, so we didn’t have a lot of seat-sharing issues. We were part of the Grand Alliance in the 2015 Assembly elections and we contested 101 seats. Now that we are part of the NDA and the lead partner again, we are pushing for 115 seats. Let the BJP adapt to LJP and we will deal with Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) on our side, ”said a source from JD (U).
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Currently, JD (U) has 71 MLAs and BJP has 53 legislators. In the 2010 Assembly elections, the JD (U) and the BJP had contested 141 and 102 seats, respectively.
A BJP leader said: “Seat-sharing talks have been held in Delhi between top BJP leaders and JD (U). It is difficult to say anything now about the number of seats. By conventional logic, we should compete on a level playing field as we did in the latest Lok Sabha polls. Our party had shown great heart during the Lok Sabha elections by denying tickets to five sitting MPs and granting JD (U) equal seats (17 each) to compete. Now it’s JD (U) ‘s turn to return the favor. “
Read | Bihar election: Chirag meets Nadda, bats for BJP fighting for ‘more seats’ than JDU
He said that the central leadership of the BJP had also been in contact with the LJP to resolve the seat allocation issues.
While admitting that there were some seat problems between the BJP and JD (U), the leader said: “We want some of their seats and JD (U) wants some of ours. Much also depends on the number of seats RJD will compete with. The shared seat could be announced sometime in October. “
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