Chirag's LJP (RV)'s Induction In NDA Could Upset JD(U) Over Seat Sharing In Bihar: Report

There are at least 38 seats out of the 243-member Bihar assembly where the NDA constituents could make competing claims, the report said.

File photo of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan.

Source : PTI

Ahead of the Bihar Assembly Elections later this year, the seat sharing can be a challenge for the ruling NDA with Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) likely to claim seats based on the last election's performance.

Sources in Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) has said that the party will claim seats where its candidates performed well and caused damage to Janata Dal (United) and other allies in 2020 polls, a report in The Indian Express said.

As per the report, there are at least 38 seats out of the 243-member Bihar assembly where the NDA constituents could make competing claims.

The Lok Janshakti Party had ensured the victory of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan by cutting the vote share of Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in at least 35 seats in 2020 polls.

Out of the 38 seats, where NDA allies could make competing claims, Chirag's party managed to get more votes than JD(U) in 32 of these seats. 

A LJP (RV) leader said that the JD(U) fought in alliance with the BJP and still lost the 38 seats. He added that if LJP(RV) had got those seats, the NDA could have defeated the opposition.

“The LJP(RV) had contested independently while JD(U) and other allies were in alliance with the BJP (in 2020). They still lost those seats. If the LJP gets those seats, the NDA can comfortably defeat the Opposition,” said a key LJP (RV) leader.

However, the LJP (RV) won just one seat in Begusarai’s Matihani where party candidate Raj Kumar Singh defeated JD(U)’s Narendra Kumar Singh. Raj Kumar later joined hands with the JD(U) months after winning the polls.

In the 2020 elections, the LJP (RV) contested polls on its own, however, maintaining the party's support to the BJP and reiterating differences with CM Nitish Kumar. 

However, LJP (RV) returned to the NDA fold in 2023 ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Chirag's party won all the five Lok Sabha seats it contested in Bihar and he was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as a minister.