'JD-U is not ready to take the political risk of playing second fiddle to the BJP in state politics.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United will contest one more seat than the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly election scheduled in a few weeks.
"The JD-U will contest 102 seats, the BJP will contest 101 seats. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest 20 seats, the Hindustani Awam Morcha and the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party will contest 10 seats each," a source in the National Democratic Alliance, which currently rules Bihar, tells this correspondent.
Early this week, Nitish Kumar, who is also the JD-U national president, flew to New Delhi to finalise the seat sharing arrangement wth senior BJP leaders.
"The JD-U made it clear to the BJP top leadership that it will contest more seats than the BJP," says a senior BJP leader in Patna. "Finally, it was agreed that the JD-U will contest 102 seats and the BJP 101."
"The JD-U is not ready to take the political risk of playing second fiddle to the BJP in state politics," confides a JD-U leader.
In the 2020 assembly polls, the JD-U contested 115 seats and won 43. The BJP contested 110 seats and won 74.
The JD-U blamed its poor performance on the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) -- then as now an NDA constituent -- for fielding candidates against JD-U nominees and cutting into its vote share.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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