The seat-sharing arrangement within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the upcoming Bihar Assembly election was finalised on Sunday evening after a series of meetings among senior alliance leaders in New Delhi.
Janata Dal (United) working president Sanjay Jha and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election in-charge Vinod Tawde shared the details on social media platform X.
Both the BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan will contest 29 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) led by Upendra Kushwaha and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) led by Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi have been allocated six seats each.
Bihar election 2025: NDA seek seat sharing deal; BJP, JD(U) to contest equal seats
Sharing the announcement, Mr. Jha wrote, “We NDA colleagues have completed the distribution of seats in a cordial atmosphere. Leaders and workers of NDA parties welcome this with joy and are resolved and united to make Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ji the Chief Minister again with a massive majority.”
Mr. Tawde, too, posted on X: “For the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, all members of the NDA family have completed the distribution of seats through mutual consensus in a cordial atmosphere. Leaders and workers of all NDA parties have joyfully welcomed this decision. Everyone has fastened the belt and are resolved to form an NDA government in Bihar once again.”
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary also echoed the sentiment, saying, “We NDA allies have completed the distribution of seats in a cordial atmosphere. Workers and leaders of all NDA parties welcome this with joy.”
In the 2020 Assembly election, the JD(U) had contested 115 seats while the BJP contested 110. Mr. Manjhi’s party had contested seven, and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani had contested 11 as part of the NDA. Mr. Paswan’s party had gone solo, fielding candidates in 135 constituencies.
The current arrangement underscores parity between the JD(U) and BJP, as both will contest an equal number of seats for the first time since 2005. In all previous Assembly elections, Nitish Kumar’s party had contested more seats than the BJP. In 2010, for instance, the JD(U) contested 141 seats while the BJP contested 102. In 2015, the JD(U) allied with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Mr. Manjhi, who had earlier demanded 15 to 20 seats, expressed satisfaction despite being allotted six seats — one less than in 2020. According to sources, his party has been given Tikari, Atri, Imamganj, Barachatti, Kutumba, and Sikandra constituencies.
As per sources, Mr. Kushwaha’s party has been allocated the Sasaram, Dinara, Ujiarpur, Mahua, Bajpatti, and Madhubani constituencies.
Speaking to reporters in Patna, Mr. Manjhi said, “When I had got one seat in the Lok Sabha election, I was not disappointed. Similarly, I have no complaint over getting six seats as the decision has been taken by the high command. We are satisfied with what we have got.”
However, in a separate interaction with a news agency later, Mr. Manjhi expressed dissatisfaction over the seat allocation, saying that by giving his party only six seats, “they have undervalued us,” and cautioned that the decision “may have repercussions in the NDA.”
Reacting to the seat distribution, RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said the NDA’s formula showed that “the BJP has surrendered to Chirag Paswan, while the JD(U), Mr. Kushwaha and Mr. Manjhi have been betrayed.”
Independent MP from Purnea, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, also criticised the move in a post on X, saying, “Sanjay Jha has completed his mission today to force Nitish Kumar ji to vacate the CM’s chair; the conspiracy to do so is complete.”
Seat-sharing talks in the Opposition INDIA bloc are yet to be concluded. The last date for filing nominations for the first phase of polling is October 17.
Published – October 12, 2025 08:40 pm IST