BJP talks tough, wants 200 seats in Bihar

The BJP has 42 MLAs and was the principal Opposition party in the present Assembly. In contrast, Samata had only six while JD (U) had 15 MLAs and were far behind the BJP in countering the Rashtriya Janata Party. "Claims on seats should be sustained by ground realities as well," he said.

"We have identified 200 Assembly segments where the BJP was in a position to defeat the RJD," Govindacharya said. The BJP’s Central Election Committee would finalise the first list of candidates for BiharAssembly polls on January 18. However, no date has so far been fixed to initiate seat-sharing talks between the NDA allies in Bihar.

The BJP has thus left only 124 seats for both Samata and JD (U) to contest while Samata had already demanded 124 seats for itself alone. It hiked its claim to 145 seats on Tuesday, leaving little scope for the JD (U).

The BJP also claimed to contest at least 50 per cent Assembly seats in Orissa and Haryana where elections would be held next month.