Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 | Seat sharing skirmish in NDA and I.N.D.I.A. bloc as Chirag Paswan and Mukesh Sahni create roadblock

Smaller allies are trying to extract their pound of flesh as the battlelines are drawn for the Bihar polls.

Patna: The talks over seat-sharing in both the alliances – the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as well as the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc – seem to be stuck with the smaller allies trying to extract their pound of flesh in the ensuing Bihar Assembly polls.

Senior BJP leader and in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, besides Vinod Tawde, reportedly met LJP (R) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan to assuage his ruffled feathers as the latter is reportedly miffed over the offer of merely 25 seats for his party to contest, while Chirag is insisting on at least 40 Assembly seats.

“Look at our strike rate during the 2024 Lok Sabha election where we were allocated five seats. And we won all the five Lok Sabha seats, with a strike rate of 100 per cent. Please keep it in mind while allocating us the number of Assembly seats,” Chirag reportedly told the top BJP leadership.

It was Chirag, who, in 2020, fielded 137 party candidates, mostly against Nitish’s JD (U) nominees. The LJP (R) lost 136 seats and won merely one, but it cut Nitish to size by damaging the JD (U) prospects wherein the Nitish’s outfit won merely 43 seats in the 243-member Assembly.

Keeping in mind the past bitter experience, NDA managers are working overtime to smoothen the seat-sharing affair in 2025.

The other side of fence

But then, the scenario is no different in the Opposition Mahagatbandhan camp where the VIP (Vikas-sheel Insaan Party) chief Mukesh Sahni, who claims to be having a hold on his numerically-strong fellow castemen – Mallahs (boatmen and fishermen), is adamant on contesting at least 40 seats and he be declared the Deputy Chief Minister candidate, besides Tejashwi Yadav as the CM nominee.

“Our demand is as per our strength. We will sort it (seat-sharing) out in the next two days,” said Sahni, who had a one-to-one meeting with Tejashwi in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The RJD leader is keen to keep the Mahagatbandhan flock together as Sahni had left the Opposition alliance in 2020 Assembly polls at the last minute, thereby marginally affecting the Opposition’s prospects.

“During the 2020 Assembly polls, both the NDA and the Mahagatbandhan secured 37 per cent votes in the neck-to-neck fight where the NDA won 125 seats as against the Mahagatbandhan which got stuck at 110, although the RJD emerged as the single largest party.

Two crucial players spoilt the broth in both camps. While Chirag damaged Nitish miserably, Sahni, by leaving Tejashwi at the last moment, harmed Mahagatbandhan.

It is against this backdrop that even smaller allies are being wooed left, right and centre this time,” explained veteran political analyst Ajay Kumar dwelling at length on hard bargaining by smaller players.