Janata Dal (United), or JD (U), will contest 122 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party 121 seats in the 243-member assembly, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday. In a joint press conference with BJP leaders, Nitish Kumar said that the JD (U) will allocate seven seats to Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) from its share of seats. This effectively means that JD (U) would be competing for 115 seats, the number he won in the 2010 elections.
The Bihar assembly elections will be held on October 28, November 3 and November 7, and the vote count is scheduled for November 10.
“The BJP is in talks with Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party and their tickets will be adjusted from the BJP seat quota,” said Kumar, who also reaffirmed that the “strong link” between the BJP and the JD (U) was intact. People in the BJP familiar with the situation said that the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) will get a maximum of nine seats and a minimum of seven.
The BJP contested 157 seats in 2015, when the JD (U) was not part of the NDA, and 102 seats in 2010.
The BJP and JD (U), who are fighting together in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections after Nitish Kumar broke away from the so-called grand alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress and returned to the NDA in 2017, put a united front on Tuesday.
The pact to share seats was announced days after the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by Chirag Paswan said on Sunday that it would fight the elections on its own because it did not want to fight Nitish Kumar.
“There is no misunderstanding between JD (U) and BJP. We have been working together for the development of Bihar for 15 years, and we will continue to do so, ”said the prime minister at a press conference that was also attended by two BJP election officials, the former chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. and Bhupendra Yadav.
Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Full Coverage
Nitish Kumar said that both parties had already announced that they were fighting together in the elections. “We have shown a new way forward for Bihar and we will continue to work together,” he said and attacked Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who has been critical of the NDA’s governance in Bihar.
“Those who were in government before us, what did they do? What was the condition of employment, law and order, roads, etc.? Riots and massacres were the order of the day. People know everything. When we arrived in 2005, we fixed things in education, health and development. The state budget used to be Rs 24,000 crore and now we have brought it to Rs 2.11 lakh crore … We will work together and contest the polls. There are no misunderstandings, ”he added.
Read also: Bihar elections wide open, a repeat of the situation in Maharashtra cannot be ruled out
The focus of the media interaction was on a recent statement made by LJP President Chirag Paswan, who was highly critical of Nitish Kumar and JD (U).
“Who says what, it doesn’t bother me. We have a long association with Ram Vilas Paswan. Ask those people how Ram Vilas Paswan got to Rajya Sabha. He became a deputy with the support of the BJP and JD (U). We have a long friendship; he is not feeling well and I wish him a speedy recovery, “he said, responding to Chirag Paswan’s comment on” ideological differences. “
Nitish Kumar MP Sushil Kumar Modi said that the two parties had already decided to fight the elections under the CM leadership.
“We have made it clear that those who are willing to accept Nitish ji as their leader will remain in the NDA. He is the chief ministerial candidate of the NDA and will remain the CM. There is no confusion, ”Modi said.
.
