Preparatory seat-sharing talks between Bihar’s ruling allies, the JD(U) and the BJP, have faced a difficult roadblock thrown up by the delimitation exercise that has changed the socio-political configuration of many Assembly constituencies, making them unsuitable for the old caste-based formulas for victory.
The BJP has demanded for itself 20 constituencies where the JD(U) had contested in the last Assembly polls as per the seat-sharing agreement between the two parties. BJP sources said the party has already identified these 20 constituencies and would take up the matter with the JD(U) and urge the senior alliance partner to swap these seats.
JD(U) candidates had won in most of these constituencies.
While the possibility of swapping of seats between the two allies was already in the air, the BJP’s demand for as many as 20 seats could bring the two parties on to a fresh collision course. At the BJP’s state core committee meeting chaired by Dharmendra Pradhan, the party’s central co-in-charge for Bihar, earlier this week, it was decided that the JD(U) leadership had to be persuaded to transfer these seats to the BJP for ensuring the NDA’s return to power in the October-November Assembly polls.
According to sources, these seats, which the JD(U) considers to be in its “quota”, include Jehanabad, Obara, Karakat, Barbigha, Dumraon, Bahadurganj, Maharajganj, Raghunathpur, Bathnaha, Warsliganj, Riga, Chiraiya and Jiradei. While the Jiradei seat, previously of general category, has now become reserved, the opposite has happened with Karakat.
The social configuration of constituencies such as Bathnaha and Harsiddh has also undergone changes.
“Considering the JD(U)’s pitiably bad performance in some of these 20 seats and the party’s unsure fate in many others due to the delimitation exercise, we hope they would agree for swapping all these seats with us. Formal talks would start on this in a week,” said a senior leader close to BJP’s Bihar unit president Dr C.P. Thakur.
While the JD(U) candidates had won in Maharajganj and Raghunathpur constituencies, they are reportedly seeking new constituencies to contest after delimitation. Jehanabad and Obara have RJD legislators while the CPI(ML) candidate had won in Karakat.
***
Paswan promises Muslim dy CM
Age Correspondent with agency inputs
New Delhi : In an apparent bid to reach out to the Muslim vote base, the LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday stated that the RJD-LJP alliance if voted to power in Bihar would make a member from the minority community deputy chief minister. However, Mr Paswan’s brother Pashupati Kumar Paras would remain the deputy CM candidate of the alliance, which would go for an additional deputy CM post.
The RJD-LJP allinace had faced flaks for not having declared a Muslim as its deputy CM candidate, after the two parties clinched the seat-adjustment by which the RJD would contest 168 Assembly seats and the LJP 75. “We would like to see a Muslim deputy chief minister in the state if our alliance comes to power,” he said.