With nominations for the Bihar Assembly elections beginning October 10, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has drawn a firm line in its seat-sharing talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Party sources said national president and Union Minister Chirag Paswan has made it clear that the LJP (R) will not settle for fewer than 36 seats.
The BJP has reportedly proposed a formula of six Assembly seats per Lok Sabha seat for its smaller allies. Based on this, Chirag Paswan, who has five MPs, has been offered around 30 seats.
However, LJP (R) sources insist they were under-allocated in the Lok Sabha elections with the assurance that the gap would be compensated during the Assembly polls.
8 Assembly Seats Confirmed So Far, Arun Bharti To Lead Future Negotiations
The Paswan-led party has rejected any offer of a Rajya Sabha seat, stressing that a deal will be struck only if it receives 36 or more Assembly seats.
According to sources, the BJP has so far confirmed eight seats for the LJP (R): Govindganj, Hisua, Rajapakar, Brahmapur, Bodh Gaya, Sikandra, Makhdumpur, and Jehanabad.
Additionally, future negotiations on seat-sharing will be handled by Arun Bharti, whom Chirag Paswan recently appointed as the party’s election in-charge.
Sources also said Chirag has indicated that he will no longer directly engage with BJP leaders Dharmendra Pradhan or Vinod Tawde on seat talks. “As party president, Chirag will speak only to top BJP leadership if needed,” a source said, underscoring the growing assertiveness within the LJP (R) camp as election talks intensify.
Paswan on Tuesday held seat-sharing talks with senior BJP leaders including the party’s Bihar polls in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan amid competing claims from their various allies.
Pradhan was accompanied by BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, who is the party’s organisational in-charge for Bihar, and Minister Mangal Pandey.
The Election Commission had on Monday announced the schedule of the assembly election in Bihar. Polling will be held on November 6 and 11, and the counting of votes on November 14, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had said.
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