Bihar Assembly Elections Live Updates: NDA’s core group meet underway in Delhi; seat-sharing deal among INDIA bloc members to be finalised soon

LJP (Ramvilas) MP Shambhavi Choudhary on party's Parliamentary Board Meeting on Saturday, speaking to news agency PTI, said, "Party president Chirag Paswan chaired Central Parliamentary Board meeting here in Delhi. Positive discussions took place. All the MPs and leaders of the party have authorised our national president's decisions related to alliance or seat sharing for Bihar Assembly Elections. Whatever he decides will be final for the party."

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, LJP (Ram Vilas) spokesperson Dhirendra Kumar, speaking to PTI, said that the list of candidates for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections will be released after NDA announces seat-sharing arrangement.

"Today, a meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board was held under the chairmanship of our National President, who also serves as the Chairperson of the Central Parliamentary Board. The list of candidates sent by the Bihar Parliamentary Board was discussed," Kumar told PTI.

"All members of the Central Parliamentary Board authorised our Chairperson and National President to take the final decision on the candidates, specifically, to decide which candidates will contest from which constituencies. Once the NDA announces the seat-sharing arrangement and it becomes clear how many seats each party will contest, the list of candidates for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections will be shared," PTI reported.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders Saturday arrived at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda’s residence in Delhi for core group meeting, where they are likely to discuss the seat-sharing arrangement for the Bihar Assembly elections, news agency PTI reported.

Watch Union Minister and LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan as he arrives at Nadda's residence: 

VIDEO | Union Minister and LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan (@iChiragPaswan) arrives at BJP chief JP Nadda's residence in Delhi to attend core group meeting. #BiharElections2025 #BiharElectionsWithPTI

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/BR2gZA1yGi

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 11, 2025

Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh Saturday announced that he would not contest the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar, and said he would continue to remain as a "soldier" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), news agency PTI reported.

His announcement come amid speculations that Singh may contest the polls on a BJP ticket from one of the seven assembly seats of Bhojpur district, preferably Ara or Barhara seats, after he recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief and Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha.

In a post on X, Singh wrote, “I, Pawan Singh, want to inform my Bhojpuri community that I did not join the party (BJP) to contest the Bihar assembly elections…nor do I want to contest the assembly elections. I am a true soldier of the party and will remain so." He also shared his photograph with Shah on X.

Singh had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election as an Independent from the Karakat seat, as per PTI.

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— Pawan Singh (@PawanSingh909) October 11, 2025

The bigger allies within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), JD(U) and the BJP are likely to contest 102 and 101 seats, respectively, in the Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled to be held next month, news agency PTI reported.

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. (PTI)

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, news agency PTI reported.

Over a post on X, the former Union Minister 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.

"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.

"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. (PTI)

On Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav's poll promise of one government job to every household in Bihar, Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Jha, speaking to reporters on Saturday, called it "desperation."

"It is desperation. They know what the result will be, so they say whatever they want, but people understand," he told news agency PTI.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders Saturday arrived at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda’s residence in Delhi for the core group meeting, where they are likely to discuss the list of candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, news agency PTI reported.

While the seat-sharing formula remains undecided, the Congress has finalised the names of 25 candidates, at the meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in Delhi on Wednesday.

Sources said these 25 seats include those of five sitting MLAs, including Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan, who represents Kadwa, and state president Rajesh Ram, the Kutumba MLA.

The CEC will then meet in a day or two to finalise the names.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress have been at odds with each other over projecting Tejashwi as the Opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance’s Chief Minister face.

The Congress has cited its practice of not declaring a CM face as a reason, even as party insiders say their leaders fear that non-Yadav OBC votes will consolidate against the Opposition alliance if Tejashwi is named the CM candidate.

The Tejashwi-led party’s counter is that since it is the largest constituent of the Grand Alliance, it will have the final say on who becomes CM if the Mahagathbandhan comes to power. The Congress’s central leaders have sidestepped questions about differences in the alliance’s top two parties on the CM question, saying it will be decided after the results are declared on November 14.

Read more here.

Despite multiple marathon meetings in the past few days, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress have been unable to strike a seat-sharing deal for Bihar Assembly elections next month due to disagreements over five seats, our reporter Asad Rehman highlights.

The five constituencies, according to highly placed sources, are Baisi (Purnea), Bahadurganj (Kishanganj), Raniganj (Araria), Kahalgaon (Bhagalpur), and Saharsa. In 2020, the RJD contested Raniganj, Saharsa, and Baisi, while Kahalgaon and Bahadurganj went to the Congress. Neither of the two parties won these seats.

Sources said that while the RJD wants the Congress to give up Kahalgaon and Bahadurganj, the Congress wants Raniganj, Saharsa, and Baisi in return. 

Read the Political Pulse here.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar is likely to nominate and announce its candidates for the Assembly elections over the weekend, state’s BJP president Dilip Jaiswal told news agency ANI.

“In Delhi, the BJP held a 3-day election committee meeting for seat-sharing and a panel was formed… The seat-sharing issue has been resolved. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the candidates will be selected and announced in Delhi…,” Jaiswal said. (ANI)

The seat-sharing deal among INDIA bloc members for upcoming Bihar Assembly elections is likely to be finalised in a day or two, news agency PTI reported quoting JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey as saying.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is willing to contest at least 12 assembly seats in the upcoming polls as an ally of the INDIA bloc, it reported quoting a party leader.

However, the final decision will be made only after a meeting with the INDIA bloc partners, the leader said. (PTI)

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