NDA finalises Bihar seat-sharing deal after weeks of talks; BJP, JDU to contest 101 seats each

Under the pact, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) led by Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) have been allotted six seats each.

The biggest sticking point in the talks had been Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which has now been allocated 29 seats. The party had initially demanded 40 to 45, while the BJP was prepared to offer 25.

According to NDTV, it took several rounds of meetings between Pradhan and Paswan to break the impasse.

Although the BJP eventually conceded just one extra seat, both the BJP and JD(U) had to adjust their own quotas to accommodate the LJP.

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the JD(U) contested 115 seats, and the BJP contested 110. This time, both major partners have scaled back to make space for allies.

Party insiders told NDTV that what proved decisive was Chirag Paswan’s insistence that his party’s share reflect its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the LJP(RV) won all five seats it contested, achieving a 100 percent strike rate.

He also requested that at least two assembly seats be allocated within each of those five parliamentary constituencies, along with tickets for senior LJP leaders.

With the agreement finalized, the NDA hopes to present a united front in Bihar, a state where coalition dynamics have often shaped political outcomes.

The Bihar Legislative Assembly election 2025 is set to be conducted in two phases, on November 6 and November 11.

Counting of votes will take place on November 14.