Chirag Paswan Scales Down Demand, Seeks 35 Seats From BJP For Bihar Elections

LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan has reduced his earlier demand of 40 seats and submitted a list of 35 constituencies to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

The BJP has so far offered its NDA ally 26 seats, along with the assurance of one Legislative Council (MLC) seat and one Rajya Sabha seat in the future, The Indian Express reported.

Paswan, however, has been pushing for at least two assembly seats each in the five Lok Sabha constituencies, Hajipur, Jamui, Vaishali, Khagaria and Samastipur, where his party performed strongly in the 2024 general elections.

Talks between the two allies have reportedly hit a deadlock over certain seats currently held by other NDA partners, including Govindganj (BJP), Matihani (JD-U), and Sikandara (HAM-S).

Paswan wants the Govindganj seat for state LJP (RV) president Raju Tiwari and the Brahmpur seat for senior leader Hulas Pandey. However, the BJP is keen to field its own candidate, Santosh Rai, from Brahmpur, which is currently held by the RJD.

LJP (RV)’s list of preferred constituencies includes Mahnar and Mahua in Hajipur, Morwa in Samastipur, Alauli in Khagaria, Bhagalpur Sadar, Bakhtiyarpur and Fatuha in Patna, Atri in Gaya, Obra in Aurangabad, as well as Sheikhpura, Arwal, and Jehanabad, The Indian Express reported.

While the BJP and JD(U) are expected to contest around 100 seats each, Chirag’s assertiveness in negotiations is backed by his party’s clean sweep of all five Lok Sabha seats it contested in 2024.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha is likely to settle for fewer than 10 seats, and HAM(S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi has maintained his demand for 15 seats, warning he will sit out the polls if denied.