LJP-BJP rift: Ram Vilas, Chirag meet Jaitley; seat-sharing announcement likely tomorrow

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is reaching Delhi on Friday, will also hold talks with BJP and LJP leaders over the seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar.

Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP pressed for finalisation of the coalition's seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar by month-end while making it clear it will not agree for anything less than six Lok Sabha seats and one in Rajya Sabha. Image: ANI

New Delhi: The dispute within the key constituents of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, the BJP and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party(LJP), is most likely on its way to get resolved after the meeting at Amit Shah’s residence concluded on a successful note on Thursday, sources revealed. Another round of meeting of LJP leaders was convened on Friday with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in which the feud between the NDA allies has most likely been resolved. Sources hinted that an official announcement of the final seat tally shall be announced on Saturday. On Friday, LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan and Chirag Paswan met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his chamber in Parliament, after which the LJP leaders seemed optimistic about contesting elections along with BJP. Member of Parliament from Bihar and LJP leader Ramchandra Paswan said: “there is no rift in the alliance. We all will contest the election together. An announcement regarding this will be made soon.” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is reaching Delhi on Friday, will also hold talks with BJP and LJP leaders over the seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar. As per the sources, after the defection of Kushwaha-led RLSP to the UPA, the LJP is now looking forward to grabbing six Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat for its chief Ram Vilas Paswan. But the BJP is reluctant to grant more than 4 seats to LJP, if its parts with one Rajya Sabha seat. However, following former union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s exit, BJP is unwilling to alienate any more of its allies and is likely to adopt a soft stance on LJP’s demand. LJP on Wednesday pressed for finalisation of the coalition's seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar by month-end while making it clear it will not agree for anything less than six Lok Sabha seats and one in Rajya Sabha. The assertion was made by LJP's state president Pashupati Kumar Paras, younger brother of the party chief and union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, a day after the party's parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan expressed dissatisfaction over no headway being made on the seat-sharing issue despite several meetings with the BJP leaders. In a series of tweets, Chirag Paswan had on Tuesday cautioned the BJP against damage to the NDA in the event of the BJP's failure to arrive at a seat-sharing formula that was respectable for other allies. Paswan has also asked the central government to explain what benefits demonetisation brought to the country.