Following the breakup of constituencies by the BJP and JD(U) over seats allotted to allies in the NDA in Bihar, there have been speculations about discontent over seat distribution. For the first time, Nitish Kumar's party had to settle for a share equal to that of the BJP.
According to a TOI report, bigwigs including BJP State Chief Dilip Jaiswal, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, ministers Nitin Nabin and Vijay Choudhary, and JD (U)'s Sanjay Kumar Jha couldn't break the deadlock of the "tussle over high-stakes seats".
JD (U)'s Jai Kumaer Singh, who is the MLA from the Dinara constituency, quit the party after his seat was given to RLM. He stated that it is "shocking" that it has come to this, and might be contesting as an independent now.
While officially, the NDA has maintained seat deal is 'amicable.' Further, there was never an issue with the equal share of 101 seats between the BJP and the JD(U). Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary went on to mention Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM(S), as he called it, NDA's "guardian" in Bihar, as he stressed that the leader was happy with the six seats allocated.
But, Union Minister Chirag Paswan's LJP (RV) had to settle for 29 seats only. And, it seems that the deal is not done yet. He is eyeing Govindganj from the BJP and Begusarai's Matihani from JD(U). While, like HAM(S), RLM will also field its candidates on six seats.
Currently, BJP's State Election in-charge, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, is also in Patna to carry out the discussions and fix the loose ends ahead of the nomination filing for the second phase on November 11.
Over the murmur about the tussle for specific seats within the NDA, BJP's Giriraj Singh took to referring to the 2010 polls. He wrote on X, "NDA created history in the 2010 Bihar polls. Won 206 out of 243 seats! JDU won 115 out of 141 seats...strike rate 81%. BJP won 91 out of 102 seats...strike rate 89%...Pradhan was in charge then and remains in charge today."
RLM Chief Kushwaha turned poetic to state that everything is fine within NDA. He said, "Aaj baadalon ne phir saajish ki, jahan mera ghar tha wahin baarish ki. Agar falak ko zid hai bijliyan giraane ki, toh humein bhi zid hai wahin par aashiyan basane ki" (Today the clouds conspired again, it rained where my home was. If the sky is adamant on striking lightning, I am also adamant on building a home there).