Despite extensive negotiations between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Zee News sources indicate that an agreement on seat-sharing for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections remains elusive.

The main point of contention revolves around the allocation of Lok Sabha constituencies in Sitamarhi, Madhepura, Gopalganj, Siwan, Bhagalpur and Banka. All these seats have JD(U) MPs.

Reports suggest that RJD, under Lalu Yadav's leadership, insists on fielding candidates in these constituencies, a proposition firmly rejected by the ruling JDU. The Nitish camp is determined to retain seats where JDU holds significant influence, particularly those secured in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the current Lok Sabha, 16 members are from JDU, 17 from BJP, six from both factions of LJP, and one from Congress. RJD has no representation among the 40 members that Bihar sends to the lower house.

Following the Mumbai meeting of the INDIA bloc, Nitish Kumar reportedly met Lalu Yadav to discuss seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. In the preliminary talks, it was reportedly agreed that both JDU and RJD would share 16 seats each.

It also emerged that the Congress and three left parties would share the remaining eight seats. RJD chief Lalu Yadav will assist Congress in selecting its viable candidates.

The INDI Alliance partners are currently working to reconcile conflicting claims and define the electoral battleground for the next Lok Sabha polls.

Swarajya reported earlier how the Samajwadi Party and Congress have encountered similar seat-sharing obstacles in Uttar Pradesh and the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections are set to witness face-off among INDI Alliance parties.