PATNA: Even as the assembly election process in Bihar formally begins with the issuance of the notification for the first phase on Friday, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar and Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) are holding separate meetings in Patna to discuss the seat-sharing deal for the polls.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar convened a meeting of senior JD(U) leaders at his official residence, 1 Anne Marg, to finalize the list of candidates. Meanwhile, Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan called an emergency meeting of his party’s core team at the state office to discuss seat distribution and election preparedness.
Although Chirag is not attending the meeting as he has left for New Delhi, LJP (RV) MP from Jamui, Arun Bharti, will participate in the deliberations on seat sharing. Bharti has also been appointed in charge of the Bihar assembly election.
Sources claim that Chirag is demanding 36 seats, while the BJP is willing to allot only 22 seats to his party. Before leaving for New Delhi, Chirag stated that the party’s election strategies would be discussed in the meeting, and a final decision would be made after the central parliamentary board meeting.
Meanwhile, JD(U) has reportedly taken a firm stand on retaining several constituencies currently held by its sitting MLAs. Chirag Paswan’s party reportedly wants to contest seats like Manhar in Vaishali, Matihani in Begusarai, and Chakai in Jamui, which are presently represented by JD(U) legislators.
Lok Janshakti Party (RV) MP Arun Bharti told this reporter that the party’s poll strategy will be decided at a meeting being held at its office in Patna on Thursday.
Amid the seat-sharing talks, HAM leader BK Singh has already declared that he will file his nomination from the Morwa assembly constituency in Samastipur district on October 13, claiming the backing of party national president Santosh Manjhi. Singh also made serious allegations against former JD(U) leader Vidyasagar Singh Nishad, accusing him of amassing disproportionate assets.
Meanwhile, Congress, a major ally of the opposition INDIA bloc, has cleared the names of 25 candidates for the upcoming assembly election. These seats are considered traditional strongholds, sources within the grand old party said.
The names of the candidates were cleared at a meeting of Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) held in New Delhi on Wednesday.
