BJP looks to contest in 122 seats in Bihar: Reports

The announcement of seat-sharing for the grand alliance partners are likely to happen in a day or two. BJP will accommodate LJP and JD(U) will also leave seats for HAM.

Patna: Amid the rumours of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) being sidelined in the NDA ahead of the assembly elections, the BJP is looking to contest on 122 seats. Speculations are rife that the saffron party will leave 22 seats for LJP.

The JD(U) and BJP have been treading cautiously on seat-sharing amid aggressive posturing by the LJP.

The Janata Dal-United JD(U) is likely to fight elections on 121 seats and will accommodate six seats for Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). The seat allocations among the alliance partners is likely to be announced by September 25th.

The crucial development comes after BJP President Bhupendra Yadav met JD(U)'s Lalan Singh and RCP Singh to discuss the seat-sharing ahead of the polls. The meeting lasted for about two hours. The Election Commission is likely to announce poll dates towards the end of September.

Bihar has 243 Assembly seats and elections in the state are due and expected in October-November as the tenure of the current Assembly will end by last November this year. LJP President Chirag Paswan had earlier announced that his party will contest on 143 seats after holding a meeting with former parliamentarians and MPs.

The announcement of seat-sharing in Delhi will be done in the presence of BJP National President JP Nadda, Bhupendra Yadav, JD(U) President and Rajya Sabha member Narayan Singh, JD(U) leader Lalan Singh and RCP Singh. However, no leader from LJP will be present.

READ: Bihar polls: LJP to contest on 143 seats

At present, JD(U) has 71 MLAs and BJP has 53 legislators. In the 2010 Assembly elections, the JD(U) and BJP had contested on 141 and 102 seats, respectively.

"The alliance of JD(U) and RJP was broken in 2015 but before that they had contested 101 seats. But now, since we are with NDA, our party will contest 121 seats. Let the BJP accommodate LJP," said a JD(U) source.

There have been reports of a growing rift between the ruling NDA allies LJP and the Nitish Kumar- led JD(U). Paswan had been critical of Nitish government's handling of a number of issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic and law and order in the state. The LJP chief has maintained that his party will support whoever the BJP supports as the chief ministerial candidate in the polls. The LJP and the JD(U) have been in a war of words, with Paswan often taking aim at the functioning of the Bihar government under Kumar.

The LJP chief had prefixed his Twitter handle with "Yuva Bihari" (young Bihari) and has been touring the state to gather supporters for the party's rally on April 14 in Patna. He has named his statewide yatra as 'Bihar first, Bihari first'.

The LJP has also demanded that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should also contest for Rajya Sabha elections.