Bihar Election 2025: JDU to Play the Role of the Elder Brother in Seat Sharing, Chirag Left Responsible for BJP

On the surface, the NDA is heading to the election battlefield united. There is a sense of equality and respect among its members. However, the battle over the number of seats to contest has not yet ended. JDU is once again taking on the role of the elder brother. Even if only symbolically, it wants to contest more seats than the larger party, BJP. JDU’s stand regarding LJP (R) is very clear it is BJP’s responsibility. There is also an expectation that BJP will restrain Chirag Paswan, national president of LJP (R) and Union Minister, from making statements harmful to the alliance’s health. JDU has not forgotten the pain of coming third in the 2020 Assembly elections. For this, it is neither in the mood to forgive Chirag nor ready to compromise.

Chirag’s Issue Raised Before Amit Shah

During a meeting between Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday, Chirag’s issue was raised. The discussion also included the demand for more seats from his side. The Chief Minister hinted that this is BJP’s matter. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, present during the conversation, did not provide detailed figures but confidently stated that there is no dispute among NDA’s constituent parties regarding seat numbers. Everything will be resolved in due course. However, the situation does not align with Chaudhary’s claim. JDU’s demand is very clear—it wants 122 seats, as in the previous election. BJP can allocate as many seats as it wants from its quota of 121 to Chirag; JDU has no objection. In the last election, JDU had also refused to give seats to the Vikasheel Insaan Party from its share. BJP had allotted 11 seats to the party from its own quota. JDU had allocated seats to Hindustani Awam Morcha from its share, giving the party seven seats. This time, JDU may take a somewhat more generous approach in seat allocation. Besides HAM, it may also allocate seats from its share to the Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

Candidates Will Also Be Given

Along with seats, the two major NDA parties BJP and JDU may also provide some candidates to allies. Last time, BJP followed this formula with the Vikasheel Insaan Party, giving it 11 seats along with five candidates. Four of the five candidates won, and all four MLAs later joined BJP. If LJP (R) is given more seats, it will also have to follow BJP’s formula. In any case, Chirag has no hesitation in working with BJP. In 2020, when he contested independently, more than a dozen BJP leaders became candidates for him, all of whom later returned to BJP. JDU had not provided candidates to Hindustani Awam Morcha. If JDU agrees to give more seats to allies this time, it may also adopt the formula of providing both seats and candidates.