Shah, Nitish discusses seat sharing in Bihar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Thursday held a discussion with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to work out a seat-sharing formula between the two NDA allies ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Besides Shah and Kumar, BJP's Bhupender Yadav and poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who recently joined the party, were also present in the meeting held at BJP chief's residence. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes.

"The discussion was over seat sharing and we were satisfied with the outcome of the talks," a senior Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader told IANS.

Sources said that both parties have almost reached a consensus over seat sharing barring two or three seats.

"It will be resolved soon," the source said.

Nitish Kumar, also JD-U President, is in Delhi since Monday for routine medical checkups at the All India Institute for Medical Sciences.

The meeting between the two leaders this time was quite in contrast to the much publicised last meeting between the two in Bihar's capital Patna.

Nitish Kumar had broken the JD-U alliance with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in the state in July last year and went back to its old ally BJP in the state.

Bihar sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has four partner in Bihar.

Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) are the other two partners of the NDA in the state.

The JD-U contested the 2014 elections separately after breaking alliance with the BJP in 2013. It managed to win just two Lok Sabha seats in 2014 while the three other NDA allies in the state together won 31 out of the 40 seats.

--IANS

aks/bns/nir