BJP breaks new ground in Bihar, overtakes Nitish Kumar in seat share

The BJP, which has long played the role of Nitish Kumar’s supporter in Bihar, is now taking the lead for the first time and will spearhead the attack on the NDA in the state. The party will contest 17 of the 40 seats in the state and its package was finalized today after the deadlock with the Chirag Paswan faction of the Lok Janshakti Party was resolved.

Mr Kumar’s BJP will field candidates in 16 seats, Chirag Paswan’s Hurriyat Party will contest in five seats, Upendra Kushwaha and Ji Jitan Ram Manjhi will contest on 1 seat each.

Chirag Paswan’s deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party comes after a long deadlock, followed by claims that Indian opposition groups have been sounding him out.

While the BJP has apparently offered him only six seats – shared equally with his uncle Pashupati Paras – sources say the opposition has offered eight seats to the BJP, Six of these seats were won by the BJP in 2019, with two more seats in neighboring Uttar Pradesh as a bonus.

Chirag Paswan, who recently claimed that “every party, every alliance wants me on their side”, bagged five seats today. But he made it clear after the meeting that his uncle Pashupati Paras will not get any seat in the quota.

But getting the deal is a huge boon for the BJP, which emerged from the isolation created by Nitish Kumar’s defection to the grand alliance and suddenly finds itself rich with his return.

But the party has made it clear that it is second to none – and one more seat marks it as the alpha of the coalition.

Even in 2019, the BJP and the JDU decided to adopt a 50:50 ratio and compete for an equal number of seats after a silent but heated confrontation. In the division, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Kumar-led Janata Party, then headed by Chirag Paswan’s father Ram Vilas Paswan, had 17 seats each, while the Janata Party, then headed by Chirag Paswan’s father Ram Vilas Pasha, had 6 seats. Swann leads.

The coalition won 39 of the 40 seats, with only one seat going to the opposition.