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The suspense over seat sharing in the NDA camp is over with the BJP on Monday finalising the number of seats for its allies in the upcoming Bihar elections. The herculean task of final seat distribution came after a series of parleys among the NDA allies following the bitterness between two Dalit camps of Jitan Ram Manjhi and Ram Vilas Paswan.
With the BJP relying much upon the Dalit and Mahadalit vote bank, party president Amit Shah made all efforts to woo both the leaders to counter the RJD-JDU joint-force which has the crucial vote base of Kurmi-Muslim-Yadav.
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The BJP that won 91 seats out of 102 it contested in the 2010 elections will field candidates in 160 out of the 243 Assembly constituencies, while Paswan’s LJP and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM have been alloted 40 and 20 seats, respectively.
The seat sharing by the NDA was finalised exactly a month after the JD(U)-RJD-Congress announced thier seats distribution. It is interesting to note that the JD(U) that won 115 seats out of 141 seats in the 2010 elections is contesting on just 100 seats this time, bowing to pressure from the RJD.
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Desperate to achieve a third term as chief minister, Nitish Kumar agreed to give 100 seats to Lalu Yadav’s party that managed to win just 22 seats in the last elections out of 168 seats it fielded candidates on. The Congress, which is struggling to find its base in the state, had agreed to fight on 40 seats this time unlike in 2010 when the party fought on all 243 seats and won just 4.
The coming together of Lalu and Nitish was seen as a major threat for the NDA despite their stunning performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when it bagged 31 seats out of 40. The BJP alone bagged 22 seats while Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Pary (LJP) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) won six and three seats, respectively.
However, with crack developing within the grand alliance after Mulayam Singh Yadav’s exit and Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) entering the poll fray, the NDA’s prospects seem to be bright.
Muslim voters comprise about 17 per cent of the total voters in Bihar and play crucial role on around 60-70 seats out of the total 243 Assembly constituencies in Bihar. It was expected of the BJP to formulate a strong strategy in Kosi, Purnea, Bhagalpur and Kishenganj, areas of easter Bihar dominated by Muslims. It was easy for BJP’s Muslim candidate Saba Zafar to secuare the Purnea district in 2010 when the party was an ally of the JD(U). But the equation this time was far from favorable with the JD(U) joining hand with one-time foe RJD.
