NDA gets Bihar headstart, trumps opposition with seat list
Abhay Singh | TNN | Mar 18, 2019, 04:11 IST
JD(U) state president Bashishtha Narain Singh (centre) with LJP president Pashupati Paras and BJP state presid... Read MorePATNA: NDA on Sunday named the Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar which the three partners, BJP, JD(U) and LJP, will contest. The candidates would be announced "in a couple of days", the NDA partners said. The three parties had announced in December that of the 40 seats, BJP and JD(U) will contest 17 each with the remaining six going to LJP.
The 17 seats which have gone to JD(U) are: Valmikinagar, Sitamarhi, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Madhepura, Gopalganj, Siwan, Banka, Bhagalpur, Munger, Nalanda, Karakat, Jehanabad and Gaya.
The seats for BJP are: West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Madhubani, Araria, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Maharajganj, Saran, Ujiarpur, Begusarai, Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Ara, Buxar, Sasaram and Aurangabad. LJP will contest from Vaishali, Hajipur, Samastipur, Khagaria, Jamui and Nawada.
BJP has retained the four seats that its Union ministers held - Radha Mohan Singh (East Champaran), Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Buxar), R K Singh (Ara) and Ram Kripal Yadav (Patliputra). The fifth Union minister, Giriraj Singh, will be shifted to Begusarai as his Nawada seat has been given to LJP. Yet another Union minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, is likely to be fielded from Patna Sahib.
The joint press conference of NDA partners at the state JD(U) headquarters implied the upper edge that CM Nitish Kumar seems to have in the alliance in Bihar.
BJP insiders claimed the decision to give away a few seats which the party won in 2014 to JD(U) and LJP was taken on a survey conducted by the saffron party to take feedback on the performance of its sitting MPs much before poll announcement. "Strong anti-incumbency was found against our MPs in Siwan and Gopalganj. Hence, it was decided to give these seats to allies. Similarly, we decided to give Bhagalpur seat to JD(U) as there was a nasty infighting between Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Ashwini Chaubey there," a senior Bihar BJP functionary told TOI on condition of anonymity .
The 17 seats which have gone to JD(U) are: Valmikinagar, Sitamarhi, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Madhepura, Gopalganj, Siwan, Banka, Bhagalpur, Munger, Nalanda, Karakat, Jehanabad and Gaya.
The seats for BJP are: West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Madhubani, Araria, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Maharajganj, Saran, Ujiarpur, Begusarai, Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Ara, Buxar, Sasaram and Aurangabad. LJP will contest from Vaishali, Hajipur, Samastipur, Khagaria, Jamui and Nawada.
BJP has retained the four seats that its Union ministers held - Radha Mohan Singh (East Champaran), Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Buxar), R K Singh (Ara) and Ram Kripal Yadav (Patliputra). The fifth Union minister, Giriraj Singh, will be shifted to Begusarai as his Nawada seat has been given to LJP. Yet another Union minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, is likely to be fielded from Patna Sahib.
The joint press conference of NDA partners at the state JD(U) headquarters implied the upper edge that CM Nitish Kumar seems to have in the alliance in Bihar.
BJP insiders claimed the decision to give away a few seats which the party won in 2014 to JD(U) and LJP was taken on a survey conducted by the saffron party to take feedback on the performance of its sitting MPs much before poll announcement. "Strong anti-incumbency was found against our MPs in Siwan and Gopalganj. Hence, it was decided to give these seats to allies. Similarly, we decided to give Bhagalpur seat to JD(U) as there was a nasty infighting between Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Ashwini Chaubey there," a senior Bihar BJP functionary told TOI on condition of anonymity .
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