Bihar polls: BJP firefights as allies protest ‘disproportionate’ seats for Chirag Paswan

BJP leaders had their hands full on Wednesday as allies Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustan Awam Morcha voiced displeasure over “disproportionate” allocation of seats to Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), forcing re-negotiations over several seats. The National Democratic Alliance in Bihar had announced the seat-sharing arrangement three days ago. 

The Janata Dal (United), while refraining from making a public statement, had also conveyed its resentment at the arrangement.

Mr. Paswan’s LJP (RV) has got 29 seats, which many have argued, does not reconcile to the party’s past electoral performance. Debuting in the 2005 Assembly election, the LJP had won 29 seats, which has remained the party’s highest-ever tally in Bihar elections. The LJP split in 2021, when Mr. Paswan’s uncle Pashupati Nath Paras walked away with four of the five party MPs.  

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Kushwaha said, “This time nothing is well with the NDA.” His remarks came after a closed door meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Union Minister Nityanand Rai at his residence that lasted over 90 minutes. Mr. Kushwaha was en route to Sasaram for a party event on Tuesday, but returned midway to Patna on learning that two (Dinara and Mahua) of the six seats that he was expecting have been claimed by the LJP (RV).

He left for Delhi for an emergency meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda. By evening, the issue had been settled. “There is no longer any confusion,” he told the media in Delhi. According to sources, Mr. Kushwaha managed to wrest a Cabinet berth and another term in the Rajya Sabha for himself, and a berth in the Bihar Legislative Council and positions in various State boards for his party workers. 

The JD(U) is also miffed at Mr. Paswan initially claiming Sonbarsa and Rajgir – two seats the JD(U) had won in the 2020 election. Ratnesh Sada, a close associate of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has won Sonbarsa three consecutive times since 2010. Rajgir is also Mr. Kumar’s home turf and has been with the JD(U) for the last two terms. According to sources, Mr. Paswan was eventually forced to give up his claim on the JD(U)’s insistence. It is also learnt that Mr. Kumar questioned his party’s senior leaders for allegedly undermining the JD(U)’s interests. 

Though JD(U) didn’t voice resentment, Union Minister and HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi said, “Nitish Kumarji’s anger is justified. I agree with him, when the decision has been made, why is someone else fielding their candidate in seats allocated to the JD(U)? I too will field my candidates in Bodhgaya and Makhdumpur.” Both these seats are being claimed by Mr. Paswan. Mr. Manjhi had contested successfully from Makdumpur in Jehanabad district in the 2010 election. In 2020, the HAM was a distant second behind the Rashtriya Janata Dal. 

Mr. Paswan, meanwhile, has been silent on his colleagues’ comments. Sources close to him claim that he has managed to get at least 80% of the seats that he wanted. At beginning of negotiation, he was offered only 20 seats, which he outrightly rejected, conveying to the BJP that he was willing to sit out the 2025 election. “We managed to pull through this allocation, because we were well prepared with our groundwork and didn’t speak out of line,” a top LJP(RV) leader said.