PATNA: With the three-member Election Commission of India (ECI) team winding up its two-day visit to election bound state on Sunday, ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Opposition parties have intensified their efforts to seal the seat-sharing deal at the earliest.
Opposition INDIA bloc leaders held a meeting at the official residence of RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in the state capital to discuss seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming assembly election. The meeting was attended by senior leaders of RJD, Congress, Left parties and VIP.
Soon after the meeting, CPI(M) leader Ajay Kumar said, “The seat-sharing along INDIA bloc allies has been finalised. A formal announcement seat-sharing will be made on Tuesday (October 7).”
Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram and VIP chief Mukesh Sahani were also present at the meeting.
In addition, RJD held a separate meeting with its core leaders to finalise the seat-allocation among INDIA bloc partners.
The ruling NDA has also stepped-up activities on this front. Union minister and BJP’s in-charge for Bihar elections, Dharmendra Pradhan, met senior leaders of NDA’s allies, including JD(U)’d Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLM’s Upendra Kushwaha.
Pradhan, accompanied by Vinod Tawade and deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary, held discussions with Manjhi on election related issues, including seat-sharing arrangements. The meeting between Pradhan and Manjhi lasted for nearly half an hour.
On being contacted, Manjhi said, “We discussed seat-sharing arrangements among NDA partners. There is no issue, all is well within NDA. Seat-sharing will be finalised at the earliest.” Manjhi left for New Delhi by an evening flight to discuss the seat-sharing deal.
Later Pradhan called on JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha, separately. Lalan Singh, however, described the meeting with BJP leaders as a ‘courtesy meeting’.
Kushwaha’s RLM has demanded 12-15 seats while Manjhi’s HAM is asking for at least 20 seats. A day earlier, BJP’s state working committee held its meeting at the office to deliberate on 60 crucial seats.
On Saturday, representatives of all recognised political parties met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and demanded for single or two-phase election. While JD(U) demanded the election to be held in a single day, BJP, RJD and other parties advocated for two-phase election.
Responding to media queries, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said that the commission would hold parleys over the phases in which elections in Bihar would be conducted.
“We took preparedness for election during our two-day visit. We will return to Delhi and soon take a decision in this regard,” he told the media.