Lok Sabha Polls: NDA announces seat-sharing in Bihar; Giriraj's seat goes to LJP

The three NDA constituents in Bihar -- BJP, JD(U) and LJP -- have announced the names of candidates for the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies for the coming general elections.

In a joint press-conference of the BJP, JDU and the LJP, the seat shares of the parties was announced for the 40 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar/ Image: PTI

New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance on Sunday announced seat sharing arrangement between the member parties in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In a joint press conference of the BJP, JDU and the LJP, the seat shares of the parties was announced for the 40 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar.  Nityanand Rai from BJP, Vashishtha Narain Singh from JDU and Pashupati Kumar Paras of LJP addressed the conference and announced that BJP, JDU will contest on 17 seats each, while LJP will contest on 6 seats. In a major change this time, the crucial seat of Nawada which is currently held by Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh, went to the Lok Janshakti Party. JDU will field its candidate from Bhagalpur seat, from where the BJP fielded its Muslim face Syed Shahnawaz Hussain in 2014. Hussain had lost the election with small margin. Here is the list of constituencies allotted to BJP, JDU and NDA. Seats to JDU - Valmiki Nagar, Sitamarhi, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Kishanganj Katihar, Purnia, Madhepura, Gopalganj, Siwan, Bhagalpur, Banka, Munger, Nalanda, Karakat, Jehanabad, Gaya Seats to BJP -  West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Madhubani, Araraia, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Maharajganj, Saran, Ujiarpur, Begusarai, Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram, Aurangabad LJP gets- Vaishali, Hazipur, Samastiour, Khagaria ,Jamui, Nawada Rai had earlier said: "All is well in NDA. We will win all 40 seats in Bihar. I do not want to comment on Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance)." The formula of seat-sharing was announced a few months ago in Delhi by BJP president Amit Shah, JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar, and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan. According to the NDA seat-sharing formula, the BJP and the JD(U) will contest 17 seats each, while the remaining six would be fought by the LJP. Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The dates of polling in Bihar are April 11, 18, 23, 29 and May 6, 12 and 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won only four seats and the Congress won two. The JD-U, which contested separately, won two seats. The BJP-led NDA won 31 seats, with the former's tally being 22.