Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United has finalised its candidates for all the seats it will be contesting in the upcoming assembly polls and may drop four sitting MLAs, a senior JD-U leader said.
The senior JD-U leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party was likely to contest 103 of the 243 seats in the state assembly, though a formal announcement will be made "at an appropriate time" by senior National Democratic Alliance leaders.
"The seats which we would be contesting have been identified. Respective candidates have also been finalised. Four non-performing sitting MLAs will be replaced with fresh faces. A new candidate will also be fielded in Parbatta seat in Khagaria where our MLA Sanjeev Kumar last week crossed over to the RJD. The same will happen in Rupauli assembly constituency, where our multiple-term former MLA Bima Bharti has sided with the Opposition parties," the JD-U leader said.
Assembly seats where four non-performing MLAs will be replaced come under Bhagalpur, Nawada and Banka districts, the leader said.
"A decision in this regard has been taken on the basis of the feedback received from the electorate of their respective constituencies. Our central leadership had already made it clear that non-performing MLAs will not be repeated in the coming polls," the leader said.
According to sources, the BJP will contest 102 seats.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas, which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for more seats. Other NDA partners -- the Hindustani Awam Morcha and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha -- will also get a respectable number of seats, they added.
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had earlier said that he was 'requesting and not making a claim' that the HAM be given a respectable number of seats, otherwise the party might not contest the election.
"Everything is fine in the NDA... seat-sharing arrangements and list of candidates will be decided by the party's central leadership in a day or two. A formal announcement in this regard will be made very soon," a BJP leader said.
Assembly elections will be held on November 6 and 11 in the state, while votes will be counted on November 14.
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