The suspense within the NDA over two Lok Sabha seats in Patna, Patna Sahib and Patliputra, ended on Wednesday with JD (U) virtually making it clear it will not stake claim for the two prestigious seats.

JD (U) general secretary R C P Singh made it clear on Wednesday that party would field its candidate from each of the nine divisions of the state, but not from Patna. “Patna division comprises half of Munger, Nalanda, Ara, Aurangabad, Sasaram and Karakat as well,” said Singh.

Currently, both seats are represented by the BJP, but with sitting Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha almost out of the fray on a BJP ticket, there was speculation about JD (U) getting the seat.

Patliputra is currently represented by union minister and BJP leader Ram Kripal Yadav.

As per the seat agreement, JD(U) and BJP would contest 17 seats each in Bihar while six would be contested by Lok Janshakti Party( LJP) led by Ram Vilas Paswan.

NDA sources said the BJP leadership has apprised the JD (U) that since it currently held both Patna Sahib and Patliputra, it had a higher chance of winning the two seats, which have both urban and rural vote base.

Singh said there was no confusion over seats in NDA and in all likelihood an announcement to this effect would be made by March 18.

State BJP president Nityanand Rai too said that NDA was united and there was no confusion over seats. “Our mission is to win 40 seats,” he said.

With the air over two Patna seats getting clear, it appears certain that BJP would again field Ram Kripal Yadav from Patliputra, a seat carved out as a parliamentary segment only 13 years ago.

In the first Lok Sabha election held for the seat, Ranjan Yadav of the JD (U) had defeated his former mentor and RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

In 2014, Ram Kripal Yadav, who had quit the RJD and joined BJP just ahead of the polls, defeated Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti.

However, the picture for Patna Sahib is still not clear. Sources in BJP said union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was the front runner.

First Published: Mar 14, 2019 11:08 IST