Bihar Assembly Polls: NDA Finalises Seat Formula As Opposition Struggles To Break Deadlock

With just four days left for filing nominations for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement, while the Opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) continues to grapple with internal disagreements, the Hindustan Times reported.

At the centre of the Opposition’s impasse is the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) resistance to offering more than 55 seats to the Congress, which is demanding at least 60 in the 243-member assembly.

The Hindustan Times reported, citing sources, the Congress has already shortlisted candidates for over 90 constituencies but is awaiting clarity on seat distribution before announcing names.

“The list will come out after finalisation of the seat sharing... Our effort is to ensure a good government for the people of Bihar,” said AICC in-charge for Bihar Krishna Allavaru. “The alliance should not suffer a loss, and Bihar should benefit.”

On Monday (13 October), RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav held closed-door talks with Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and Allavaru to resolve the issue. Earlier, he also met Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram and party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan.

Outside Rabri Devi’s residence, RJD ticket hopefuls gathered in large numbers as Lalu Prasad Yadav began symbol allotments to a few candidates.

Meanwhile, the Left parties, including CPI(ML) Liberation, have begun distributing symbols in select constituencies.

“We have full faith in our leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. We request that they finalise and announce the seat-sharing arrangement as soon as possible,” said Congress MP Manoj Kumar.

On the NDA side, the BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, with Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) allotted 29, and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S) and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM receiving six seats each.

State BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal said all NDA partners are expected to announce candidates by Tuesday, ahead of the 17 October nomination deadline for the 6 November first-phase polling across 121 constituencies. Results will be declared on 14 November.

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