INDIA bloc seat-sharing begins in Bihar, JD(U), RJD want 17 each, suggest 4 for Congress

A senior JD(U) leader communicated the party’s claim on the 17 seats to a senior Congress leader on Friday, the sources said.

“JD(U) had won 16 seats and was the runner-up in another seat. RJD, Congress and Left parties have to decide their share in the remaining 23 seats,” said a JD(U) leader.

On the possibility of Nitish getting the national convener position in the INDIA bloc, the leader said, “Congress is unlikely to have any objection on his name. An announcement of the name of the convener is expected soon.”

The JD(U) has kept the heat on the Congress for making Nitish the national convener of the INDIA bloc. Another JD(U) leader said: “Most allies have supported the idea. It should be just a matter of time now.”

Congress sources told The Indian Express that it had been pressing for eight seats in its bid to expand its base in Bihar. JD(U) and RJD sources said they would go by the 2015 Assembly polls formula in which both parties had contested an equal number of seats while giving a respectable number of seats to the Congress. “This time, we have to accommodate CPI(ML) and CPI as well. The Congress should not press for more than four seats as its base had shrunk in the state,” said a JD(U) source in Patna.

An RJD leader said: “The practical formula is 17 seats each to RJD and JD(U), four to Congress to two to CPI(ML). If top leaders of RJD and JD(U) concede a little more, it could be 16 seats each to RJD and JD(U), five to Congress, two to CPI(ML) and one to CPI.”

Another JD(U) leader said that the Congress, as a leading partner in the INDIA bloc, should show flexibility and respect regional parties where they are strong. “Congress knows very well that it does not have much stake in Bihar. The party is caught between survival and revival. It should attempt revival where it is strong, not where regional parties are strong,” said the JD(U) leader.