NEW DELHI: The NDA on Sunday unveiled a seat-sharing deal among its allies in Bihar, with the BJP-JD(U) sticking to the earlier pact to contest equal number of Lok Sabha constituencies, and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) getting six Parliamentary seats.
Union Minister and LJP patriarch Ram Vilas Paswan would also get the support of the BJP to contest the Rajya Sabha elections.
In the run up to the announcement of the seat adjustment pact jointly by BJP chief Amit Shah, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag, a number of meetings had been held to hammer out the final contours of the agreement among the NDA constituents.
The BJP chief told reporters that the leaders of the constituents would sit to finalise the individual constituencies to be contested by the NDA allies in Bihar. “The NDA is committed to a strong India, and the seat adjustment has been done on the basis of the ground assessment. We have factored in the political strength of the NDA on each and every Parliamentary seat in Bihar,” Shah told reporters at his residence.
How the pact looks
Ram Vilas Paswan will be given a Rajya Sabha berth at the earliest opportunity. The LJP leader, along with son Chirag Paswan, had met BJP president Amit Shah a few days ago
Ram Vilas Paswan, who is not keen to contest the next Lok Sabha elections, has been able to get the assurance of the BJP to help him gain entry in the Upper House next year. There appears a sense that senior Paswan is not sure of a victory from his traditional Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency. With six Lok Sabha seats, along with assurance for Rajya Sabha elections, LJP appears to have negotiated a good deal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which had contested as an NDA ally in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, quit the saffron block and joined the Congress-led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).
Shah exuded confidence after announcing the seat adjustment pact, saying the NDA would win more Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the 2019 Parliamentary polls.
Bihar chief minister, too, said that the NDA constituents would sit together in the coming days to discuss strategies on issues in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Paswan senior, who is known to bolt on eve of elections, asserted that the NDA would come to power again after the 2019 polls. Junior Paswan, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Jamui Parliamentary seat, had mounted pressure on the BJP to declare the NDA seat pact by December 31. Chirag had even complimented Congress president Rahul Gandhi on his victory in the state elections. With Kushwaha’s exit from the NDA fold, the BJP had been under pressure to hold onto its flock in the state.
Ram Vilas Paswan, who is not keen to contest the next Lok Sabha elections, has been able to get the assurance of the BJP to help him gain entry in the Upper House next year.
There appears a sense that senior Paswan is not sure of a victory from his traditional Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency. With six Lok Sabha seats, along with assurance for Rajya Sabha elections, LJP appears to have negotiated a good deal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which had contested as an NDA ally in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, quit the saffron block and joined the Congress-led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).
Shah exuded confidence after announcing the seat adjustment pact, saying the NDA would win more Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the 2019 Parliamentary polls.
Bihar chief minister, too, said that the NDA constituents would sit together in the coming days to discuss strategies on issues in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Paswan senior, who is known to bolt on eve of elections, asserted that the NDA would come to power again after the 2019 polls. Junior Paswan, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Jamui Parliamentary seat, had mounted pressure on the BJP to declare the NDA seat pact by December 31. Chirag had even complimented Congress president Rahul Gandhi on his victory in the state elections. With Kushwaha’s exit from the NDA fold, the BJP had been under pressure to hold onto its flock in the state.