The BJP – long accustomed to playing the supporting role of Nitish Kumar in Bihar – has taken the lead for the first time and will lead the NDA charge in the state. The party will contest 17 of the state's 40 seats, according to a formula finalized today after the impasse with Chirag Paswan's faction of the Lok Janshakti Party was resolved.
Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United will field candidates on 16 seats, Chirag Paswan's LJP will contest on five seats, Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi will contest on one seat each.
Chirag Paswan's deal with the BJP came after a long standoff that was followed by claims that the opposition bloc had sent INDIA its feelers.
While the BJP apparently offered him only six seats – to be shared with his uncle Pashupati Paras – sources said the opposition had offered the LJP eight seats, all six it won in 2019 and two more in neighboring Uttar Pradesh as a bonus.
Chirag Paswan, who recently claimed that 'every party, every coalition wants me to be on their side', today settled for five seats. But he made it clear after the meeting that his uncle Pashupati Paras would not get a single seat from his quota.
But the closing of the deal is a huge plus for the BJP, which from a position of isolation imposed by Nitish Kumar's defection to the Grand Alliance has suddenly become rich with his return.
But the party has made it clear that it was unparalleled: that one extra seat marked it as the alpha in the alliance.
Even in 2019, after a silent and bitter confrontation, the BJP and the JDU had decided on a 50:50 formula and contested for an equal number of seats. The distribution was 17 seats each for Mr Kumar's BJP and Janata Dal United, and six for the Lok Janashakti Party, then led by Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag Paswan's father.
The alliance had won 39 of the 40 seats, with only one going to the opposition.