NEW DELHI: With no visible movement on seat sharing talks between the partners of opposition’s INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), yet another regional party has flexed its muscles by making an open claim for Lok Sabha seats.
After the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), it is now Nitish Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United), that has gone public with its claim on 16 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Significantly, the JD(U) has also ruled out any talks with the Congress over seat sharing in Bihar and has said it will deal only with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
“We have 16 Lok Sabha MPs and we will contest on all these seats. However, the final seat sharing arrangement is yet to be finalised. There is no question of contesting less than 16 seats. When we will have a meeting with RJD, we will put our concerns before them,” Bihar rural development minister Sanjay Kumar Jha has said.
The JD(U) leader also ruled out any seat sharing talks with the other partners of the ruling alliance, including the Congress.
“The Congress and left parties should hold discussion with RJD. After the seat sharing arrangement is finalised between them, we will then discuss about seat arrangement with RJD,” Jha said.
The JD(U) stand could be a ploy to put pressure on the Congress to make Nitish Kumar the convener of the INDIA bloc. His party leaders have openly demanded that the Bihar chief minister should be the PM face of the opposition alliance.
There are 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. In the 2019 elections, the BJP had won 17 and the JD(U) bagged 16. The Congress had won 1 seat, while Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Jan Shakti Party had won 6.
However, what may complicate matters is that the the JD(U) in 2019 was an ally of the BJP as part of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance). This time around it will have to deal with several such seats where it had contested against the RJD and the Congress in 2019.
The JD(U) is already miffed with the Congress and other INDIA parties over the delay in finalising seat sharing talks. A senior party leader today said that Nitish Kumar had desired an early seat-sharing in the INDIA bloc so that the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls could have been launched on Gandhi Jayanti.
JD(U) national general secretary Sanjay Kumar Jha, who has attended INDIA bloc meetings along with Kumar, rued that precious time has been wasted but hoped that seat-sharing will be finalised by the end of this month.
Jha said that Nitish had proposed that the multi-party coalition hit the campaign trail from Raj Ghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Delhi, on October 2 because he understood that to take on the BJP, the INDIA bloc needed to match the saffron party’s pace.
“One reason why this could not happen was that the Congress got busy with assembly elections in five states,” Jha said and added “We hope that at least now allies will pay heed to his suggestion of completing seat-sharing by the end of January.”
Bihar is the third state where differences between the INDIA partners have come out in the open.
In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and the Congress are already engaged in an open war of words over seat sharing. Bengal Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that his party did not need Mamata’s mercy over reports that the ruling party in the state was ready to offer only two Lok Sabha seats to the grand old party. The Trinamool Congress retaliated with a dig reminding the Congress of its zero tally in the 2021 assembly elections.
In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has staked claim to 23 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said that his party was the “biggest” in the opposition alliance and “would contest 23 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats.”
“We have decided that seats won by us will be discussed later. The Congress does not figure in it as it has not won any seat in Maharashtra. So talks with the Congress have to start from zero in the state,” Raut had said.
In the 2019 general elections, the undivided Shiv Sena, which was part of the BJP-led NDA alliance, had contested 23 seats and won 18. However, it split last year after Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray. Later, the Election Commission allowed the Shinde faction to keep the name ‘Shiv Sena’.
While the NCP under Sharad Pawar won four seats in the last Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had bagged just one seat. Its lone MP from Chandrapur, Balu Dhanorkar, died earlier this year.
After the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), it is now Nitish Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United), that has gone public with its claim on 16 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Significantly, the JD(U) has also ruled out any talks with the Congress over seat sharing in Bihar and has said it will deal only with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
“We have 16 Lok Sabha MPs and we will contest on all these seats. However, the final seat sharing arrangement is yet to be finalised. There is no question of contesting less than 16 seats. When we will have a meeting with RJD, we will put our concerns before them,” Bihar rural development minister Sanjay Kumar Jha has said.
The JD(U) leader also ruled out any seat sharing talks with the other partners of the ruling alliance, including the Congress.
“The Congress and left parties should hold discussion with RJD. After the seat sharing arrangement is finalised between them, we will then discuss about seat arrangement with RJD,” Jha said.
The JD(U) stand could be a ploy to put pressure on the Congress to make Nitish Kumar the convener of the INDIA bloc. His party leaders have openly demanded that the Bihar chief minister should be the PM face of the opposition alliance.
There are 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. In the 2019 elections, the BJP had won 17 and the JD(U) bagged 16. The Congress had won 1 seat, while Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Jan Shakti Party had won 6.
However, what may complicate matters is that the the JD(U) in 2019 was an ally of the BJP as part of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance). This time around it will have to deal with several such seats where it had contested against the RJD and the Congress in 2019.
The JD(U) is already miffed with the Congress and other INDIA parties over the delay in finalising seat sharing talks. A senior party leader today said that Nitish Kumar had desired an early seat-sharing in the INDIA bloc so that the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls could have been launched on Gandhi Jayanti.
JD(U) national general secretary Sanjay Kumar Jha, who has attended INDIA bloc meetings along with Kumar, rued that precious time has been wasted but hoped that seat-sharing will be finalised by the end of this month.
Jha said that Nitish had proposed that the multi-party coalition hit the campaign trail from Raj Ghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Delhi, on October 2 because he understood that to take on the BJP, the INDIA bloc needed to match the saffron party’s pace.
“One reason why this could not happen was that the Congress got busy with assembly elections in five states,” Jha said and added “We hope that at least now allies will pay heed to his suggestion of completing seat-sharing by the end of January.”
Bihar is the third state where differences between the INDIA partners have come out in the open.
In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and the Congress are already engaged in an open war of words over seat sharing. Bengal Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that his party did not need Mamata’s mercy over reports that the ruling party in the state was ready to offer only two Lok Sabha seats to the grand old party. The Trinamool Congress retaliated with a dig reminding the Congress of its zero tally in the 2021 assembly elections.
In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has staked claim to 23 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said that his party was the “biggest” in the opposition alliance and “would contest 23 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats.”
“We have decided that seats won by us will be discussed later. The Congress does not figure in it as it has not won any seat in Maharashtra. So talks with the Congress have to start from zero in the state,” Raut had said.
In the 2019 general elections, the undivided Shiv Sena, which was part of the BJP-led NDA alliance, had contested 23 seats and won 18. However, it split last year after Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray. Later, the Election Commission allowed the Shinde faction to keep the name ‘Shiv Sena’.
While the NCP under Sharad Pawar won four seats in the last Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had bagged just one seat. Its lone MP from Chandrapur, Balu Dhanorkar, died earlier this year.
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