PATNA : LJP and RLSP, two key constituents of the BJP-led NDA, today demanded that the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar polls be done within a week and suggested that the saffron party contest 101 seats and leave the remaining 142 to its allies.
LJP’s Bihar unit President Pashupati Paras and his Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) counterpart Arun Kumar made the demand at a joint press conference here.
The two leaders also asked BJP to change the slogan for the state polls, due later this year, from ‘Abki Bar BJP sarkar’ to ‘Abki Bar NDA sarkar’ so that the message can be taken to all the workers of the coalition partners.
Kumar said that while there was no doubt that the Bihar polls would be fought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the slogan in the name of NDA would enthuse workers of all parties.
Paras, the brother of LJP national president and Union minister Ramvilas Paswan, told reporters that the seat-sharing agreement should be reached within a week’s time.
Kumar, who is also an MP, said he was for the drawing up of an early seat-sharing pact among the NDA partners so that candidates get sufficient time to prepare for the polls.
He said that a delay in the announcement of seats for the recent election for 24 Legislative Council seats from local bodies led to a “lack of coordination among workers of partners due to which the coalition could not win more seats”.
NDA had won 12 of the 24 seats in the July poll while JD(U), RJD and Congress had together bagged 10 seats with two going to Independents.
The state chief of RLSP said his party’s national executive at Hajipur had proposed that in addition to BJP fighting 101 seats, LJP should be given 75 seats while RLSP should contest 67 seats.
As Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, too, is part of the NDA coalition, some seats have to be given to it, they said, adding that 142 seats should thus be left for NDA allies.
Meanwhile, HAM spokesman Danish Rizwan, too, said that his party favours early declaration of NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement for the Bihar polls.
Asked about the number of seats each party should be allocated, he said, “HAM believes in talking on this during an NDA meeting and not through media.” (AGENCIES)
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