Announcing the agreement to share seats for the 243-member assembly, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the allies will be accommodated from the BJP and JD (U) quotas.
“The JD (U) has 122 seats of which we have reserved seven for Hindustani Awam Morcha (headed by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi). The BJP has the remaining 121 where the new participant Vikassheel Insaan Party of Mukesh Sahni will be accommodated” Kumar told reporters.
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At the joint press conference, the BJP ally backed Prime Minister Nitish Kumar’s leadership to the hilt and rejected LJP chief Chirag Paswan, who has raised a flag of rebellion.
Speaking to reporters, Senior Deputy Minister Sushil Modi stated that Nitish Kumar will be the prime minister regardless of the number of seats each party wins.
He also said that the BJP will approach the Election Commission to prevent LJP from using photographs of Prime Minister Modi during the campaign.
The LJP had withdrawn from the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, citing differences with Nitish Kumar’s JD (U).
The party led by Chirag Paswan had said that it will present its candidates against the JD (U) but that it will continue to support the BJP.
Meanwhile, the Bihar BJP unit claimed today that there was no back door alliance with the LJP and clarified that it is fighting state elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.
Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said: “The LJP is our ally at the Center and we pray for the speedy recovery of its founder and Union minister, Ram Vilas Paswan. But there should be no confusion regarding the fact that that in Bihar the leader of the NDA is Nitish Kumar, our alliance with his party is unbreakable.
In a sharp response to LJP, Nitish commented sarcastically: “I believe in doing my job. If some people take pleasure in saying something inconsequential, they are welcome to do so.
However, he tried to repudiate Chirag’s claim that JD (U) has not treated his alliance partners well in the state and asked “Was Ram Vilas Paswan elected to the Rajya Sabha without the support of JD (U)? ? “.
The LJP has been attacking Nitish Kumar’s party since he left the alliance and has urged the people of the state not to vote for the JD (U) candidates.
The assembly elections in Bihar will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, with the vote counting taking place on November 10.
The nomination process for the first phase, according to which 71 of the 243 total seats will go to the polls, began on October 1 and will end on October 8.
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