Bihar: Seat sharing with BJP finalised, all 'concerns' addressed, says Chirag Paswan

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan said on Wednesday that his party has finalised a seat-sharing formula with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls and all his "concerns" were addressed.

Following a meeting with BJP president J.P. Nadda, Paswan was lavish in his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the ruling party as he expressed satisfaction at the offer given to him, a change from his recent muscle-flexing as the alliance talks dragged on.

Sources said Paswan's party may contest five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. The Hajipur seat, currently represented by Chirag's estranged uncle and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras who heads another LJP faction, may be given to Paswan as he considers the constituency part of his legacy owing to his father and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan's long association with it, who represented it eight times in the Lok Sabha.

"Division of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar among all NDA parties decided. It will soon be formally announced. All my concerns have been addressed by the BJP. I am satisfied," Chirag Paswan said. On the fate of the faction headed by Paras, Paswan said it was not his concern. "The seats my party has are mine," he said, in an indication that the claims of the Paras-led NJLP might have been ignored by the BJP.

Amid claims and counterclaims by the two LJP factions and the BJP's apparently failed bid for a rapprochement following Ram Vilas Paswan's death in 2020, his younger brother Paras had walked away with four other MPs of the party owing to their differences with Chirag Paswan, who remained the only MP in his faction.

However, the Jamui MP was successful in galvanising his party's core supporters around his leadership, making the point to the BJP that he is the political heir to his father's legacy. Following Paswan's assertion after talks with Nadda, Paras went into a huddle with his supporters at his New Delhi residence as his party weighed its options for the polls.

Though the BJP and the Janata Dal (United), the second biggest party in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, have made no official comments, sources said they may contest around 17 and 16 Lok Sabha seats respectively. Two other smaller allies may be given one seat each.

Paswan exuded confidence that the NDA will be able to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar. Asked about his differences with chief minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), he said all NDA constituents are working to achieve the target of crossing 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.