BJP, JD(U) to contest 101 seats each as NDA seals deal

Patna: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday announced its seat-sharing formula for the Bihar assembly elections, scheduled for Nov 6 and Nov 11. The BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, leaving 29 for LJP(RV) and six each to the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) of former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha. The Bihar legislative assembly has 243 seats.

HAM(S), according to highly placed sources, will retain its four sitting seats — Imamganj, Tekari, Sikandra and Barachatti — while also being allotted Atri and Kutumba. RLM will get six seats from Obra, Sasaram, Madhubani, Bajpatti, Narkatiya, Dumraon and Mahua, sources said. Kushwaha had also sought additional seats in Siwan, Saran, Ujiayarpur and Goh, but the BJP did not concede to these demands.


For the first time in the NDA, JD(U) will contest an equal number of seats with BJP in the Bihar assembly elections. In previous elections, JD(U) has typically contested more seats than BJP.

All NDA partners have almost finalised their candidate lists and are expected to make a joint announcement on Monday. The BJP central election committee met in Delhi, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and top party leaders, to discuss preparations for the assembly elections.

Chirag has already said his party’s seats and candidates are finalised. Sources said Chirag sought at least 30 seats, arguing that his party had won all five Lok Sabha constituencies it contested in 2024, which translates to an average of 30 assembly seats. The erstwhile LJP, led by Chirag’s father late Ram Vilas Paswan, had won 29 seats in the Feb 2005 assembly election against the RJD while serving as a minister in the Manmohan Singh govt at the Centre. It has yet to be confirmed whether Chirag secured Govindganj from the BJP for his state president Raju Tiwari and Bramhpur for Hulas Pandey.

JD(U) national executive president Sanjay Kumar Jha, BJP leader and deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, Kushwaha and LJP(RV) confirmed the formula on X. All posts shared a similar message signalling alliance unity. “We, NDA allies, met together and completed the seat distribution in a cordial atmosphere. Workers and leaders of all NDA parties joyfully welcome this unanimous decision. Bihar is ready. #NDA govt again,” the posts read.

The decision followed daylong, hectic parleys between BJP leaders and HAM(S) representatives, including union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and his son and party chief Santosh Suman. BJP Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde and other party leaders also succeeded in striking a deal with RLM president Upendra Kushwaha.

Though Manjhi was initially dissatisfied with the allocation, having sought at least 15 seats, he expressed his faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, “Bihar mein bahar hogi, Nitish sang Modi ki sarkar hogi.” Speaking at Patna airport, he said he had never been fully satisfied with the offer. In a post on X before returning to Patna, he added, “I have said this before and I am saying it again today. I, Jitan Ram Manjhi, will remain with Prime Minister Narendra Modi till my last breath. There will be spring in Bihar, there will be Modi’s govt with Nitish.”

Manjhi had to compromise on the number of seats despite the fact that his party contested seven seats in 2020 and won four. Kushwaha, who has no MLA or MLC, was sent to the Rajya Sabha after losing the Lok Sabha election from Karakat in 2024.

The BJP took a dig at the opposition Mahagathbandhan and posted X, “NDA united – split continues within Mahagathbandhan. Seat distribution among all NDA alliance parties has been completed. BJP-101, JD(U)-101, LJP(R)-29, RLM-6, HAM-6 will contest the elections as a joint alliance. All NDA parties are contesting the elections unitedly. On the other hand, Mahagathbandhan parties are squaring off against each other. The opposition alliance has now become a sick alliance. Now people are even asking whether talks will even begin between them before the nomination ends.”