Nitish-Vijay meet sparks buzz amid MLC seat-sharing talks

Patna: The visit of former chief minister Nitish Kumar to the residence of deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Thursday morning triggered speculation in political circles with discussions centring on the purpose of the meeting.Though Nitish, who is also the JD(U) national president, did not stay long, he was later heard inviting Vijay to his residence for detailed discussions on various issues, including the upcoming legislative council elections.Political attention is currently focused on the distribution of 10 legislative council seats among NDA constituents — BJP, JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular). One seat is expected to be contested by the RJD.Of the 10 seats, nine are falling vacant in early June, while one has been vacated by Nitish after his move to the Rajya Sabha. As per the current understanding, the JD(U) and BJP are likely to get three seats each, while the LJP(RV) and RLM may get one seat each. The by-election to the seat vacated by Nitish is expected to go to the JD(U), taking its tally to four.The Election Commission has announced the poll schedule. Nominations will be filed between June 1 and June 8, while polling is scheduled for June 18.The situation has become more complex after Union minister and HAM(S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi publicly staked claim to one seat for his party.“There is neither confusion nor any tussle in the NDA camp. All the five parties of the NDA are united, and their leaders would sit together to decide the seat sharing,” Vijay said. Referring to Manjhi’s demand, he added there was “nothing wrong with his demand”.Against this backdrop, the Nitish-Vijay meeting assumes significance as the JD(U) prepares to finalise candidates for the seats likely to come to its share.Meanwhile, Nitish met a delegation of teachers’ recruitment examination (TRE)-4 aspirants seeking advertisement of over 40,000 vacant teaching posts and also visited the state JD(U) headquarters.