New Delhi: The I.N.D.I.A opposition alliance has finalised seat sharing for Bihar for the upcoming 2024 General Elections, sources said to Zee News. Ruling Janata Dal United (JDU) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will be fighting the polls on sixteen constituencies each, while the Congress will be in fray from five seats. Left parties will be contesting from three seats of the state. For RJD and JD(U), one seat plus or minus can be possible.
Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday evening in Patna. Although there is no information about what the two discussed, sources said that Tejashwi conveyed his father Lalu Prasad Yadav's message on seat sharing formula to contest equal number of seats.
The sources added that Lalu Prasad Yadav brought the formula of 2015 Assembly election where the RJD and JD(U) contested on 100 seats each in 243 seats of Vidhan Sabha and remaining 43 seats were given to Congress.
The sources further said that another point was also discussed about the JD(U) contesting on 17 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At that time, the party was part of the NDA. Hence, JD-U may not lose one seat and go for 17 seats in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar is said to be a hard bargainer on seat sharing and he did that in 2015 Assembly election, 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2020 Assembly election. Keeping in view of his track record, he may be asked to contest on 17 seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) was part of NDA and contested on 17 seats and won 16 of them, while BJP contested on 17 and won 17 while LJP contested on 6 seats and won all six. One seat of KIshanganj was won by the Congress which was in Mahagathbandhan at that time.
After the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc, the leaders have decided to finalize the seat sharing formula within three weeks and they are looking to be on schedule now.
The I.N.D.I.A bloc, which comprises of the Congress, the RJD, the JD(U), the SP, the BSP, the TMC, the DMK, the NCP, the CPI, the CPI(M) and other regional parties, is aiming to challenge the BJP-led NDA in the upcoming general elections. The bloc last met on December 19, 2023, and decided to finalise seat-sharing as soon as possible.
However, the bloc has not yet declared its prime ministerial candidate, with some leaders suggesting the name of Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, while others saying that the issue will be decided democratically after the polls.
