RJD may keep 19 Bihar seats, leave 9 for Congress

PATNA: After several rounds of negotiations with the RJD leadership in Patna and Delhi over the last few days, Congress said the seat-sharing deal among the Grand Alliance (GA) partners for 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar was sealed on Tuesday.

Though the number of seats that each partner will contest is likely to be made official only at a press conference in Patna on Wednesday, sources said RJD and Congress will contest on 19 and nine seats, respectively. The smaller partners will be accommodated on the remaining seats.


Significantly, CPI, which wanted to field former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai, has not been accommodated in the seat-sharing at this juncture, sources said. However, the possibility of leaving that seat at a later stage for Kanhaiya is not ruled out.

“Seat sharing among the GA partners has been amicably finalised. It was done after seat-wise discussion among the partners,” AICC in charge for Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil told TOI.

Sources said Congress scaled down its demand from 11 seats to nine. The two seats which Congress agreed to leave will be given to CPI-ML, sources added. As per the agreement, Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP has been given four seats, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S) two, Sharad Yadav’ LJD two and Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party one seat, sources added.