NEW DELHI: The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar has finalised its seat-sharing for the upcoming assembly elections, after days of intense negotiations among allies. After earlier demanding 15 seats for his party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi struck a somewhat contradictory tone following the seat-sharing announcement. While he expressed satisfaction with the six seats allotted to HAM(S), he also suggested that the NDA had undervalued his party and warned that such decisions could have repercussions within the alliance.“What the high command decided, we accept, but by giving six seats, they have undervalued us, it may have repercussions in NDA,” he said.“In Parliament, we were given one seat, still we were happy. Here, we have been given six seats, and we respect the decision of the leadership.”Also read: Manjhi threatens to withdraw from electoral race over seat sharing tussle“We are satisfied with what we have been allotted and we have no complaints,” he added.Prior to the announcement, all eyes were on Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV), Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi led HAM(S). While Chirag made a strong pitch for a larger share by leveraging his party’s 100% strike rate in Bihar during the recent Lok Sabha elections, Manjhi sought dignity and recognition, reportedly demanding at least 15 seats to maintain HAM(S)’s previous strike rate from the 2020 Assembly polls.The final seat allocation was announced by Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan was: BJP and Janata Dal (United) will contest on 101 seats each, while Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will field candidates on 29 seats. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will contest six seats each.

Congress questions ‘respect’ for allies

Congress latched onto the seat-sharing announcement criticising NDA’s ‘treatment’ of smaller allies. “What has Manjhi ji been saying over the past 15 days? His community was allocated 6 seats in the NDA. Upendra Kushwaha got 6 seats, indicating NDA assigned this many to the Kushwaha community. Does this mean the Kushwaha community is worth only 6 seats in Bihar?” Congress leader Manoj Kumar asked. Kumar further questioned if Chirag Paswan, who reportedly sought 40 seats, was truly respected with 29. Accusing the NDA of undermining key caste groups, he claimed the alliance had been “preparing to deal with” its allies rather than honouring them.“This was done because preparations were underway in the NDA to deal with these people… Jitan Ram Manjhi asked for respect, so did he receive it with 6 seats?” he questioned.

Weeks of negotiation

The seat-sharing announcement followed intense parleys in New Delhi over the weekend, involving top NDA figures including BJP president JP Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and Bihar leaders such as deputy CM Samrat Choudhary and state BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal.While BJP has sacrificed some seats (down from 110 in 2020), it seems to have emerged as the dominant partner in terms of influence, evident in how it brokered peace among allies and ensured cohesion ahead of the two-phase elections scheduled for November 6 and 11. Vote counting will take place on November 14.On the other side of the political aisle, the INDIA bloc led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son Tejashwi Yadav, and wife Rabri Devi have travelled to Delhi amid reports of tension with the Congress, which is pushing to contest close to 70 seats—similar to its 2020 tally, when it won 19.