As the NDA’s allies in Bihar posture over seat sharing, the BJP plans its strategy

File photo of Chirag Paswan of the LJP-Ram Vilas and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha. | Photo Credit: PTI/ANI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is viewing statements by its Bihar partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-Ram Vilas), and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) — as a sign that they are buckling down for a hard bargain in seat sharing ahead of the Assembly election in the State.

Over the last few days, politics has heated up within the Bihar chapter of the NDA. First, Union Minister Chirag Paswan dropped hints that he might be amenable to fighting the Assembly election, increasing his stakes in any future government formation, should the NDA win. Later, his brother-in-law and Lok Sabha MP Arun Bharti declared that Mr. Paswan should fight from a General Category seat rather than one reserved for the Scheduled Castes, projecting that Mr. Paswan had an appeal across castes in the complicated Bihar electoral landscape, and attempting to raise his profile.

The RLM had its own message to give with regard to its bigger ally, the BJP. At a public meeting last week, RLM chief and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha alluded to the fact that forces from within the NDA had jeopardised his Lok Sabha election from Karakat, leading to his loss from there. He warned that such sabotage from within would hurt those who were behind it as well. “If Upendra Kushwaha sinks, then you too shall sink, since we are on the same boat,” he had said.

While not naming names, it was clear that the allusion was to Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, who does not get along with Mr. Kushwaha, the latter’s supporters say. “The Kurmi-Koeri-Kushwaha vote, of non-Yadav OBCs (Other Backward Classes) now has all these other claimants, who are jostling for space within the same alliance,” an RLM office-bearer said, explaining Mr. Kushwaha’s apprehensions, and his antipathy to Mr. Choudhary.

Mostly, however, the BJP is viewing these statements, and plans by both the LJP and RLM chiefs to hold further public meetings around June 8, as positing for seat sharing.

“Chirag Paswan has already told his people that he wants a samman janak (respectable) number of seats from the NDA kitty. His calculations are that since he has five Lok Sabha MPs, he should get six seats for each, that is, 30 Assembly seats — which will not happen. At best, the BJP will offer him 22-25 seats,” a senior source in the BJP said.

Mr. Kushwaha is also looking for more seats for his party as a lone ranger with a party named Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (in alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen or AIMIM, and the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP). In the 2020 Assembly election, he failed to win a single seat but showed a decent amount of presence in several Assembly seats. He later merged his party with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), only to separate from the JD(U) and form the RLM.

At an earlier NDA meeting held by the BJP’s national president J.P. Nadda, Mr. Kushwaha had counselled unity within the alliance as they faced-off against the Mahagathbandhan ‘grand alliance’ consisting of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML). Mr. Nadda’s allies, however, seem to be settling down for a tough negotiation on seats.

Published - June 02, 2025 05:50 pm IST