Seat-Sharing Woes: Balancing Acts in Bihar's Political Landscape

The BJP is finding it challenging to share seats in the Lok Sabha because Bihar has 40 seats, but the NDA's combined demands total 50.

The bigger parties in the alliance, such as the BJP and chief minister Nitish Kumar's JDU, are reportedly considering giving up a few seats to balance the numbers and keep the NDA flock together, especially in light of the opposition's attempts to entice them, as the situation has reached a breaking point.

The idea is gaining traction because Bihar, which has 42 Lok Sabha seats, ranks fourth after Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48), and Bengal (42), and any upset there could have a significant impact on the BJP's long-term objectives and overall results, especially given its slogan, "win over 400 seats this time."

"There are too many political parties and their demands, which is a challenge we face. However, there is a time and seat limit. Emotions and ego conflicts should be added. Under the circumstances, allocating seats is a challenging undertaking, but we are making every effort to do so, a senior BJP official told The Telegraph, requesting anonymity.

Top BJP leaders in Delhi are now aware of the problem, and they are working hard to find a solution before the election dates are revealed. The JDU leaders are speculating on the circumstances as well.

"Ignore the seats we previously ran for and the ones we won. The principal aim is to remain together and secure every Lok Sabha seat within the state. Regarding seat sharing, neither the BJP nor us are inflexible. A prominent JDU politician and close adviser to Nitish Kumar informed this newspaper that "everything will be sorted out amicably."

The complexity results from the growing number of allies. Just three parties were a part of the Bihar NDA in 2019: the BJP, the JDU, and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The LJP ran for six seats, while the BJP and JDU each ran for 17. Together, they won 39 of the state's 40 seats; the JDU only lost one, to the Congress, in Kishanganj.

Following that, the LJP broke apart into the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), headed by Jamui MP and son of Ram Vilas Paswan, and the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), led by Ram Vilas's younger brother, Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras. After being "unfriended" by Nitish, the JDU departed in August 2022, and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) joined the NDA.

With the Lok Sabha elections approaching and the BJP allies beginning to calm down, Nitish once again displayed his now-famous somersaulting abilities and joined the NDA.

Despite the fact that Nitish's return helped the state create the NDA administration, it also threw off the balance that was about to be achieved and left the alliance with six parties. Furthermore, Mukesh Sahni and his Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) are looking into opportunities to collaborate with the NDA coalition.

Both the JDU and the BJP have frequently said that they would run for the seats they had won, which are 17 and 16, respectively.

In this case, the RLJP claims that since it has five MPs, it will run for five seats. HAMS and RLM each seek three seats, whereas Chirag's party seeks six for Ram Vilas, the leader of his LJP. These add up to fifty seats in the Lok Sabha. VIP will require one or two seats to compete if it also joins the NDA.

Chirag has worked hard to position himself as the rightful heir to his father Ram Vilas's legacy following the split in the LJP, while his uncle Pashupati—who holds the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat and is a Union minister in addition to having five MPs—has faded into the background.

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