New Delhi, Oct 12 : After several rounds of intense deliberations, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprising the Janata Dal (United), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha is set to announce its seat sharing formula for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections on Sunday.
The decision follows marathon meetings held in New Delhi between senior alliance leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda, to finalise the seat distribution and shortlist candidates.
According to sources, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is likely to contest around 101–102 seats, while the BJP may get one seat fewer. The LJP (Ram Vilas) led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan is expected to field candidates on 26 seats, HAM (Secular) headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi on seven seats, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) led by Upendra Kushwaha on six seats.
While the NDA alliance appears to have reached a consensus, the opposition Mahagathbandhan — comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Left parties, and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) is still grappling with internal disagreements over seat allocation.
Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday confirmed that the NDA would unveil its seat-sharing plan at 11 am on Sunday, asserting that “the alliance stands united and strong.”
The first phase of voting will take place on November 6, covering 18 districts, including Patna, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Saran, Gopalganj, and Bhojpur. The second phase will begin with notification on October 13, with voting scheduled for November 11. Counting of votes will take place on November 14.
With over 7.42 crore voters and 90,712 polling stations, the Bihar elections are expected to be a massive democratic exercise. The Model Code of Conduct has already come into effect, ensuring free and fair elections across the state.