MLS agrees on seat-sharing, final touches to be held at mega meeting in Delhi tomorrow

New Delhi Patna:

The grand alliance in Bihar has reached an understanding on sharing the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats. Sources said that according to the agreement, Lalu Yadav’s Janata Party will contest 26 seats, the Congress will contest nine seats, the Left parties will contest five seats, of which the Communist Party of India will contest three seats.

Sources said both parties will meet in Delhi tomorrow to take a final decision on the constituencies, after which a formal announcement will be made in Patna.

Key leaders from all parties will attend the meeting in Delhi tomorrow. Sources said Congress president Mallikarjun Haq and the Gandhi family are likely to attend the meeting.

The Congress also contested 9 seats in 2019. Of these, the party won only one seat. RJD failed to win. The NDA won 39 of the 40 seats, with the BJP winning 17 and Nitish Kumar-led Janta Dal United trailing by just one seat with Chirag Pa The Lok Janshakti Party led by Chirag Paswan won all six seats.

This time, Nitish Kumar is back in the NDA after a brief stint in the big leagues. The BJP has also retained Chirag Paswan despite divisions within his party and their initial support for his rebellious uncle Pashupati Paras.

The announcement has to be made soon as the filing of nominations for the first phase of Bihar will end on Thursday – the extra days being added due to the extended Holi government holiday.

Last week, the NDA officially announced its seat share in Bihar, with the BJP in the lead, contesting 17 seats.

Mr Kumar’s JD(U), which previously dominated the alliance in the state, will contest 16 seats. The Lok Janshakti Party will contest five seats, with Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM getting one seat each.