NDA seat-sharing talks for Bihar polls not yet over, says Upendra Kushwaha

Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Saturday dismissed speculations about rumblings of discontent among NDA constituents in Bihar over seat sharing for the upcoming assembly polls and said that talks have not yet concluded.

The former Union minister, in an X post, said, "Don't pay attention to rumours floating around. The talks are not yet concluded. Wait...! I don't know how the news is being circulated in the media. If someone is planting news, it's deceit, it's betrayal."  Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had earlier said that he was "requesting and not making a claim" that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) be given a respectable number of seats, otherwise the party might not contest the election.

Another Union minister, Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now reportedly asking for at least 25 more.

Assembly elections in the state will be held on November 6 and 11, while votes will be counted on November 14.

"It will be a humiliation for me and my party if we are not given at least 15 seats in the coming assembly polls. If we get 15, we can easily win at least 8-9 seats and will become a recognised party," Manjhi had said.

Even after 10 years of establishment, HAM remains an unrecognised party.

"I have been helping the NDA for a long time. So, I am requesting the NDA leaders and not making a claim. My party would prefer not to contest the polls, if we don't get a respectable number of seats. But I must make it clear that even if we don't contest polls, our party will keep working for the NDA partners in the coming polls," Manjhi said.

According to sources in the NDA, the bigger allies JD(U) and the BJP are likely to contest 102 and 101 seats, respectively.

LJP (Ram Vilas), which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for at least 25 more. Senior leaders in the LJP (RV) are of the opinion that the party should get at least 45 seats, said a party leader on the condition of anonymity.

"Everything is fine in the NDA... seat sharing arrangements and the list of candidates will be decided by the party's central leadership in a day or two," a senior BJP leader said.