News Brief
Nayan Dwivedi
Mar 14, 2024, 10:46 AM | Updated 10:52 AM IST
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Following days of negotiations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), JDU and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), have finalised a seat-sharing agreement.
While the BJP will contest 17 of the state's 40 seats, 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.
According to the reports, Chirag Paswan-led faction of the LJP will contest on five seats, including the Hajipur constituency, previously represented by his father, Ram Vilas Paswan, for eight consecutive terms.
However, this arrangement may come at a cost for Chirag Paswan's estranged uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras.
After the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan, Paras, who currently represents Hajipur in the Lok Sabha, walked away with five out of the six MPs who won under the LJP banner in the 2019 elections.
Paras also holds a ministerial position in the Modi government at the Centre.
Chirag Paswan's participation in the BJP-led alliance also marks an intriguing turn of events.
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Once a Bollywood actor, Chirag now finds himself in an alliance with Nitish Kumar, a former rival.
Recently, Nitish had severed ties with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress to rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
In 2019, BJP and JD(U) had agreed on a 50:50 formula. Both parties had contested an equal number of seats.
The NDA coalition had won 39 out of 40 seats, with only one seat going to the opposition.
Nayan Dwivedi is Staff Writer at Swarajya.