JMM supremo and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had assigned the responsibility to state minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu and party general secretary Vinod Pandey to negotiate with Mr Yadav.
New Delhi:A day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly polls, the political parties both in the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) pushed ahead with hectic parleys to firm up seat-sharing agreements within their respective blocs. So far, neither the NDA nor the Opposition grand alliance has announced seat-sharing arrangements with their allies.
The representatives of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), an alliance partner of the INDIA bloc, met RJD leader and chairman of the Mahagathbandhan’s coordination committee Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday in Patna for the final round of the seat-sharing discussion.
JMM supremo and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had assigned the responsibility to state minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu and party general secretary Vinod Pandey to negotiate with Mr Yadav.
Though Jharkhand’s ruling party did not reveal the details of the outcome, the RJD, according to the sources, has offered two to three seats to the JMM as against their demand of 12 seats in the Bihar polls.
According to sources, the JMM will agree to the offer, as they are willing to accommodate all alliance partners united under the Mahagathbandhan’s umbrella. It is expected that the final result of the seat-sharing discussion will be announced in a joint press conference of all stakeholders in Patna in a couple of days.
In Delhi, the senior BJP leaders, including the party's Bihar polls in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, held talks with Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan over the regional party's share of seats in the state elections amid competing claims from their various allies.
Besides the number of seats that Mr Paswan has sought, the LJP(RV) is keen on certain constituencies seen to be friendlier to its prospects and has asked for being allotted a couple of Assembly seats in each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies it had won in 2024, sources have said.
The LJP(RV) has pointed out that the last time it contested the Assembly elections as part of the BJP-led NDA in 2015, it was given 43 seats to contest in the 243-member assembly. The JD(U) was then not part of the alliance.
The LJP(RV) had walked out of the NDA in 2020 due to its differences with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and had ended up seriously damaging the JD(U), even though it could win only one of the over 135 seats it had contested.
In Bihar the BJP is not only working out a "winning" seat-sharing pact but is also looking to strengthen the NDA's poll prospects by bringing in star power with folk singer Mathali Thakur and Bhojpuri actress Akshara Singh into the poll fray.
Ms Thakur on Tuesday indicated her willingness to make her political debut from her hometown, Benipatti, in Madhubani district. She recently met with BJP national general secretary and Bihar organisation in-charge Vinod Tawde and Union minister Nityanand Rai, sparking speculation about her contesting the elections.
Asked about her preferred Assembly constituency, she said, “There hasn't been any official announcement yet, but I would like to go to my village area because I have a special connection with it. Starting from there will also give me a chance to learn. Meeting people, talking to them...I will understand more if I start from my village,” Ms Thakur said.
The 25-year-old singer said she is ready to contribute in every possible way to the development of the country.
Ms Singh, on the other hand, met Union minister Giriraj Singh, which created a stir on social media, with speculation mounting over her possible entry into politics. She posted a photo of her meeting on social media, captioned that she received his "blessings".
Mr Pradhan had earlier met other allies during his recent visit to Bihar.
The Election Commission had on Monday announced the schedule of the Assembly election in Bihar. Polling will be held on November 6 and 11, and the counting of votes on November 14, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had said.
