NEW DELHI: The NDA is likely to unveil its seat adjustment for Bihar soon. The issue came up during a discussion between Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the restive leadership of Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP). Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is likely to give his stamp of approval to the distribution of seats among the NDA constituents.
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, his son Chirag, along with the Bihar unit of the BJP Nityanand Rai called on Jaitely on the day to finalise the contours of the seat adjustment for NDA constituents after taking a brief from the BJP chief, sources said, adding that they would soon meet the Bihar chief minister for his seal of approval. Kumar is also in the national capital currently.
While the BJP and JD (U) are slated to contest an equal number of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, LJP is likely to get the remaining six constituencies to contest. Sources said that there would be a reshuffling of constituencies among the NDA constituents on the basis of the ground assessments.
The LJP is keen to secure BJP’s support for Rajya Sabha nomination for Ram Vilas Paswan, who is not keen to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP and JD (U) are likely to contest 17 seats each in Bihar, which has a total of 40 Lok Sabha seats. With Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) quitting NDA, LJP is likely to benefit with two additional seats, since the BJP had earlier been keen to allocate only four seats for the ally, which is known to bolt close on the eve of Lok Sabha elections.
“The BJP and JD(U) had agreed to reshuffle seats on the basis of the assessments of strength of each outfit. A similar formula will also be applicable on LJP. The NDA constituents have agreed that the candidate selection will be on the basis of the winnability factor, and there will be consultations before the candidates are finalised,” sources said.
After posturing, Sena likely to open seat talks with BJP
Seat sharing talks between the BJP and Shiv Sena, for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, are likely to commence soon. However, as a recent internal survey by the BJP showed, the tally of both the parties could come down considerably even if they contested the polls as allies.
The BJP-Sena alliance had bagged 42 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in 2014. While the BJP had won 23, Sena bagged 18 and Swabhimani Party took one.
After the recent bypolls, the BJP’s tally slipped to 22, while the Swabhimani Party MP Raju Shetti broke away from the NDA to join the Congress-NCP alliance.
On several occasions over the last one year, the Sena had been on record saying it won’t contest the 2019 polls in alliance with the BJP.While party president Amit Shah had advised state BJP leaders to avoid public spat with Sena, CM Devendra Fadnavis told his party MLAs and MPs, at a recent meeting, that while attempts are being made to forge an alliance with Sena, they should also be prepared to contest independently.
At the other end of the political spectrum, alliance talks between the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are also stuck due to some small allies, sources have said.