Bihar polls: RJD-Congress finalize seat sharing, Tejashwi Yadav to lead Grand Alliance

New Delhi: Ahead of Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD and Congress have finalized seat sharing after several rounds of ‘not-so friendly’ discussions.

Both were vying for larger number of seats while RJD wanted Congress as well as Left parties to agree on Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate.

The two parties agreed on seat-sharing formula and announced that Tejashwi will lead the Grand Alliance against BJP-led NDA in the polls.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will contest 144 seats out of 230 while Congress will get 70 and Left parties will fight on 29 seats, the Grand Alliance announced on Saturday.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will be the chief ministerial candidate of the Opposition alliance. The party led by Lalu Prasad Yadav is contesting the elections in alliance with the Congress and the Left and smattering of smaller parties.

Hectic parleys are also underway in the ruling NDA alliance for finalization of seat sharing. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the issue will be sorted out very soon. He said a co-ordination committee has been constituted by party national president JP Nadda to resolve the issue.

Reports suggest that LJP president Chirag Paswan is bent on greater share of seats for the party and hasn’t even ruled out quitting the alliance if the party’s demands are not met. Paswan has also convened LJP parliamentary board meeting where some big decision could be taken regarding alliance with NDA.