Patna: The Central Parliamentary Board meeting of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) will be held on Saturday at 5 pm in Delhi. Bihar LJP Principal General Secretary Shahnawaz Kaifi and State Parliamentary Board President Raju Tiwari will be present in the meeting. According to party sources, this will be the last meeting to be held before the Bihar elections. The names of all 143 candidates will be discussed in this meeting.
LJP chief Chirag Paswan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda on Thursday to discuss the seat-sharing formula. LJP has called a meeting of the party's parliamentary board on Saturday to decide the road ahead. BJP has offered 27 assembly and two Legislative Council seats to LJP, sources said.
Will LJP contest 143 seats?
In fact, the LJP has indicated that if there is no 'respectable' distribution of seats, it can field its candidates in 143 seats in the state. In the 2015 elections, LJP had contested 42 seats and could win only two seats. In that election, JDU was part of the Grand Alliance. It had defeated NDA in collaboration with RJD and Congress.
Offer of 27+2 after claim of 42 seats
BJP had offered 27 assembly seats and two seats in the legislative council to the LJP though LJP chief Chirag Paswan had staked a claim on 43 assembly seats. LJP leaders had made it clear that they would break away from NDA if fewer seats are offered and contest the election on its own. Although LJP has not released any official statement till date.
LJP was offered 27 seats
The seats BJP has offered include Govindganj, Bisfi, Araria, Bahadurganj, Kishanganj, Amour, Balrampur, Madhepura, Alinagar, Kewati, Baruraj, Garkha, Parsa, Lalganj, Rajpakkad, Teghra, Aloli, Kahalgaon, Maner, Obra, Kutumba, Belaganj, Rajauli, Sikandra, Jamui and Katoria. The 27 seats include those which fall in Chirag Paswan’s two parliamentary constituencies of Jamui and Sikandara.
How many seats will BJP-JDU contest?
In the meantime, according to sources, the NDA has prepared its formula of seat-sharing. Out of 243 seats in Bihar Assembly, BJP-JDU is likely to fight on 50 per cent seats each. In that case, BJP will contest on 121 seats and JDU will contest on 122 seats. BJP will give seats to LJP from its quota while JDU will give seats to Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha from its quota.
Formula 2010 for mission 2020
JDU has demanded more seats, but it has also been told to follow the seat-sharing formula of 2010. In 2010, JDU had contested on141 while BJP had contested 102 seats. In that election, JDU had won 115 seats and BJP won 91 seats. Lalu Yadav's party RJD could win only 22 seats. But this time, LJP and HAM are also part of NDA.
Also Read:Congress may contest 60-70 seats in Bihar: Sources
