Bihar Elections: Alliance On Track, NDA Seat Finalisation Soon; Nitish Kumar To Be CM Face

News18

2 days ago

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According to sources, ticket distribution in the Bihar assembly elections within the NDA is likely to follow the same formula as in the Lok Sabha elections
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has decided to contest all seats in the upcoming Bihar elections, with sources saying seat distribution may not have been decided yet but other factors have been considered.
'Which caste will get representation on which seat has already been decided for all the 243 seats," a top source told CNN-News18.
The state leaders have held several rounds of meetings to understand the share of seats that the NDA wants to contest. Another two or three rounds of meetings are expected to take place before the focus shifts to the finalisation in Delhi. After that, a detailed meeting with the alliance partners will take place to firm up plans for all the 243 seats.
Also, there is no doubt in the mind of the alliance that Nitish Kumar will continue to be the face of the bloc. The decision to continue as chief minister after the elections will be left to Kumar, the sources added. On the kind of commentary that political leaders have been making against Kumar's conduct, BJP sources indicated: 'Any sensitive and sensible politician will never make a remark on somebody's health… One should always refrain from commenting on the health of seniors."
Alliance partners Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Upendra Kushwaha will contest in the state.
Paswan had expressed his wish to contest the assembly polls, pushing forward his 'Bihari first' stance, and his party gave the go-ahead in a recent meeting.
According to sources, ticket distribution in the Bihar assembly elections within the NDA is likely to follow the same formula as in the Lok Sabha elections.
In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP contested 17 seats, JD(U) 16, LJP five, while Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha contested one seat each.
Although BJP contested one more seat than JD(U) in the Lok Sabha polls, in the assembly elections, JD(U) may contest on one or two more seats than BJP. As per sources, JD(U) may contest around 102–103 out of the 243 seats, while BJP may contest on 101–102 seats.
The remaining roughly 40 seats will be allotted to Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
The BJP has decided that it will not award a ticket to a candidate whose feedback is negative in the last two surveys that the party has done. Seat sharing and seat allocation will also be done on the basis of ability to win. 'Any alliance partner who has lost the seat more than twice may be exchanged with the other alliance partner," the top sources added.
Earlier, it was speculated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would go to Bihar on June 15 but his visit stands postponed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to Bihar on June 20 for an engagement in Siwan.
The Election Commission has indicated that the Bihar assembly polls will take place in either two or three phases. The full bench of the EC, including chief election commissioner Ganesh Kumar, is expected to travel to Bihar this month.
First Published:
June 10, 2025, 13:09 IST