Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Saturday chaired the party's core committee meeting in Patna in view of the assembly elections in Bihar, scheduled to be held in October-November this year. The meeting was attended by Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and BJP's state unit chief Dilip Kumar Jaiswal.
Besides, several other party leaders, including BL Santosh, were also present at the meeting.
During the meeting, Nadda held a detailed discussion over the strategies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the Bihar polls. Discussions were also held over how the NDA would reach out to the voters. "JP Nadda expressed his satisfaction over the work done by the NDA government in Bihar... This has sent a positive message among the voters of Bihar," said Jaiswal following the meeting.
Why was this meeting crucial?
This meeting was crucial as the NDA is yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula for the Bihar elections. The NDA in Bihar includes the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U). Apart from them, it also includes Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
What was the seat-sharing arrangement for NDA in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls?
In 2020, the BJP and the JD-U contested the Bihar elections at a 121:122 seat-sharing formula. Out of its 122 seats, the JD-U gave seven seats to the HAM (Secular). Meanwhile, the BJP contested on 110 seats, as it gave 11 of its seats to Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).
The undivided LJP had contested the elections separately, fielding candidates on 137 seats. Meanwhile, the VIP has now left the NDA and is part of the Mahagathbandhan, which consists of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and the Left parties.
Out of the 115 seats it contested, the JD-U won 43. The BJP contested on 110 seats, winning 74 of them. The LJP, on the other hand, had won just won seat.
