SBSP to contest 153 seats in Bihar, says BJP top brass was forewarned

In a move seemingly driven by disappointment over not being allocated a seat in the upcoming Bihar polls, the SBSP, a member of the NDA, announced on Monday (October 13, 2025) that it will contest 153 seats in the State.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) national general secretary Arvind Rajbhar made the announcement, stating that the party will reveal its candidates for the Bihar elections at a press conference in Patna on Tuesday (October 14, 2025).

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Ballia, Arvind Rajbhar said, “The SBSP will contest 153 seats in Bihar. The party has been expanding its organisation in Bihar for the last 19 years and demonstrating its strength through various programmes. Our effort was to strengthen the NDA in Bihar as well, as we are with the NDA in Uttar Pradesh.” Mr. Rajbhar claimed that the Bihar unit of the BJP provided a negative report regarding the strength of the SBSP, which resulted in the NDA denying them any seats.

“We have been voicing our concerns for a long time. On May 1, 2025, we informed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J.P. Nadda. On May 5, we held a rally in Bihar and communicated to senior BJP leaders that if an alliance with the NDA was finalised, we would contest together; if not, we would contest alone,” he explained.

He added that the party waited until Sunday (October 12, 2025) for the matter to be finalised. “We did not want to make a mistake on our part, so we waited for the decision of the NDA’s top leadership. Now, we have decided that the SBSP will contest 153 seats in Bihar,” Mr. Rajbhar said. When asked about potential alliances with other parties, Mr. Rajbhar mentioned that there have been efforts made since Sunday. “We received an offer from the Rashtriya Janata Dal to contest five seats, but we have rejected it,” he said, adding that he had also spoken with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Tej Pratap Yadav.

In response to a question, Mr. Rajbhar clarified that the SBSP will remain aligned with the NDA in Uttar Pradesh and emphasised that they were not focused on defeating or winning against anyone in Bihar. “We will gather our votes regardless of who wins or loses,” he added.

The SBSP general secretary also claimed that individuals who had left the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal were in discussions with the party about contesting the elections.

Bihar will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, and votes will be counted on November 14 to decide the fate of the ruling NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the challenge posed by the Opposition bloc comprising the RJD and Congress, among others.

The election in the politically key State this time has a third force in the form of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, while a Special Intensive Review (SIR), which Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar repeatedly described as “shuddhikaran” (purification), of the voter list has already charged up the electoral process.

Announcing the schedule, Mr. Kumar said elections will be held in 121 seats of the 243-member Assembly on November 6, while the remaining 122 constituencies will go to polls on November 11. The counting of votes will be held on November 14.

In the outgoing Assembly, the ruling NDA has 138 members, while the Opposition alliance has 103 members in the 243-member Assembly.