Sun Oct 12 13:48:13 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

After protracted negotiations, the NDA has finalized its seat-sharing agreement for the Bihar assembly elections. The BJP and JDU will each contest 101 seats, while smaller allies like RLM and HAM will get six each. The most contentious negotiation involved Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas), which ultimately secured 29 seats after initially demanding a significantly larger share. The LJP’s strong performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections served as a key factor in swaying the BJP to concede more seats. Both the BJP and JDU had to make sacrifices in their respective seat allocations to accommodate the LJP.

**News Article:**

**NDA Finalizes Bihar Seat Deal After Tense Negotiations**

**Patna, Bihar** – The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has announced its seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, putting an end to weeks of intense negotiations. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced the details on X, revealing that the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) will each contest 101 of the state’s 243 assembly seats.

Smaller NDA allies, Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), will each be allocated six seats.

The most challenging aspect of the negotiations centered around Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP(RV). The LJP(RV) initially demanded 40-45 seats, while the BJP was only willing to offer 25. At one point, the LJP(RV) even hinted at a potential alliance with Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party.

However, after multiple meetings with Dharmendra Pradhan, Chirag Paswan ultimately agreed to contest 29 seats. The LJP(RV)’s strong performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it won all five seats it contested, proved to be a critical bargaining chip. Paswan argued that the seat allocation should reflect his party’s recent electoral success, requesting that at least two assembly seats be allotted within each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies currently held by his party.

To accommodate the LJP(RV)’s demands, both the BJP and JDU had to make concessions in their respective seat allocations, with the JDU contesting 115 seats in 2020 Bihar assembly election, while the BJP had contested 110.

This agreement solidifies the NDA’s united front in Bihar as they prepare for the upcoming elections.

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