In 2014, the BJP contested from 29 seats in 2014 and won 22 seats. (Representational) The BJP will contest 25 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and leave the rest for its allies including the JDU, the LJP and RLSP, a party leader said on Monday. A day after JDU leader Pawan Verma claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be the face of the NDA in Bihar, the BJP leader said: "There is no question of leaving more than 15 seats to allies." According to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader who did not want to be identified, the BJP contested from 29 seats in 2014 and won 22 seats.In 2014, the Janata Dal-United contested on its own but performed poorly. It got only two seats.<doc-sep>Patna/New Delhi: Exactly a year left to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NDA partners in Bihar, JD(U) and BJP have already started pitching for more than 40 seats in the seat sharing formula here. The development follows the embarrassing loss for the ruling alliance in Jokihat by-elections where it lost to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD. The ruling Janata Dal (United) insists that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is the leader of the JD(U)-BJP alliance and it has been the "senior partner" in the state thus indicating that it should get a major share of the seats. BJP was quick to react, who said that while it agrees that Kumar is the face of NDA in Bihar, the Lok Sabha elections will be fought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thus staking similar claims to the seats. The question at the core of the debate is whether the poor showing of JD(U) in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections — when it was out of NDA — or whether it’s much improved showing in the 2015 assembly elections would be a yardstick to decide the number of seats to be given to the JD(U) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. While the JD(U) played it all alone in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and won just two seats, it registered an impressive presence in the assembly elections held a year later as a partner of the RJD and the Congress in the ‘mahagathbandhan’ — which it quit last year to join hands with the BJP. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when the two fought together, the JD(U) had won 22 out of 25 seats it had contested while the BJP won 12 out of 15. "Nitish Kumar has always been the leader of the NDA in Bihar while JD(U) has always been the senior coalition partner, the proverbial big brother. There is nothing new in that," JD(U) spokesman Ajay Alok told reporters here echoing the line taken by party leaders KC Tyagi and Pawan Varma after a high-level party meeting on Sunday. Alok was responding to queries over reports in a section of the media that it was resolved at a meeting of the party's core committee yesterday that JD(U) will play the role of big brother in Bihar just like the BJP does in Delhi. Varma had said Nitish Kumar is the face of the NDA in Bihar. That is why he is the Chief Minister. To a query whether the JD(U), which had only two members in the Lok Sabha, was likely to press for a seat-sharing arrangement commensurate with its relatively higher strength in the state assembly, Alok said, In the past, there have been occasions when the JD(U) has fought on 25 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and the BJP has contested 15. He, however, added under different circumstances, it would require all NDA constituents to sit together and thrash out a seat-sharing arrangement that is acceptable to all. After Kumar snapped ties with the BJP in 2013, smaller parties like Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, headed by Kumar's associate-turned-critic Upendra Kushwaha joined the NDA which went on to win a total of 31 seats in the state in 2014 lok Sabha elections out of which BJP bagged 22. While Kushwaha has demanded that seat-sharing be decided at the earliest, Paswan is also understood to have taken up the matter with BJP president Amit Shah when he called on him in Delhi last week. Meanwhile, BJP leaders sought to play down JD(U)'s stance. Narendra Modi is the face of the NDA in the country while Nitish Kumar is its leader in Bihar. Where is a contradiction in that," Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters in Delhi. Seat-sharing is not a big issue when our hearts have united (dil mil gaye). When the time comes, all of us will sit together and decide, the BJP leader, who was in the national capital to attend a meeting of state environment ministers, said. Union Minister Giriraj Singh, who has been known to be a bitter critic of Kumar, also struck a conciliatory note, saying he is the chief minister of the state and Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of the country. Why are some people trying to make a controversy out of that. However, the party's state vice-president Mithilesh Tiwari said it is beyond doubt that the Lok Sabha polls will be fought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Replying to a query, he said, If the JD(U) is trying to put pressure, through the media, for a favourable seat-sharing arrangement, then it should not do so. Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, a former close aide of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad who had joined the BJP in 2014, also said, I cannot comment on seat-sharing but Lok Sabha polls will be fought under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The NDA in Bihar is scheduled to hold a meeting here, the first since the chief minister rejoined the coalition, on Thursday. (With inputs from PTI)<doc-sep>The announcement comes three days before a crucial NDA meeting in Patna to project a united face among people. Three days before a crucial National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting in Patna to project a united face among people, its constituent, the Janata Dal (United) has asserted that its president and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be the face of alliance in the State in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The announcement was made by K.C. Tyagi, national general secretary and spokesperson of the JD(U). Mr Tyagi, along with another party national general secretary Pawan Varma, chief electoral strategist for the JD(U) in the 2015 Assembly polls Prashant Kishor and Mr. Kumar had a four hour meeting on Sunday at Mr Kumar’s official residence in Patna. “Nitish Kumar is the face of the NDA in Bihar as he is the tallest leader and the BJP, the LJP [Lok Jan Shakti Party] and the RLSP [Rashtriya Lok Samata Party] will have to approach the Lok Sabha polls under his leadership”, Mr. Varma said. Party insiders told The Hindu that the JD(U) would soon press the BJP for a seat-sharing arrangement in the parliamentary election. NDA constituents for early seat-sharing arrangement RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha has earlier called for early settlement of a seat-sharing arrangement. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP spared seven seats to the LJP and the latter won six. The BJP had left four seats to the RLSP and the latter won three. The BJP contested in 29 constituencies and won 22. This time, with the JD(U) in alliance, the LJP and the RLSP are said to be apprehensive of getting less seats. Realising the swelling ground reality, the JD(U) has started putting pressure on ''big brother'' BJP to bag more seats. Meeting on June 7 On June 7, the BJP, the JD(U), the LJP and the RLSP will hold a dinner meeting at Patna’s Gyan Bhawan. BJP's Bihar in charge Bhupendra Yadav, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan, and Upendra Kushwaha will participate in the meeting along with other leaders. After the June 3 core committee meeting, JD(U) leaders asserted that in the coming days, the party would intensify its demand for the grant of Special Status Category to Bihar. Mr. Kishor is believed to have come back to the JD(U) camp for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and State Assembly polls in 2020.<doc-sep>
New Delhi: Signs of a crisis in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are emanating from Bihar, with most of the allies, led by Janata Dal (United) and chief minister Nitish Kumar, joining hands against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to demand a greater share of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish Kumar held a meeting of senior JD(U) leaders in Patna on Sunday to discuss the seat-sharing formula for the Lok Sabha polls. “Nitish Kumar had reached out to Union minister Upendra Kushwaha a few days ago and the two leaders had a detailed conversation about the functioning of the NDA and how the BJP is not giving importance to its allies in Bihar," said a senior JD(U) leader based in Patna, on condition of anonymity. “All three allies, Nitish Kumar, Upendra Kushwaha and Ram Vilas Paswan are together and want more importance (for their parties) in the state," said the JD(U) leader quoted above. Kushwaha is the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party or RLSP while Union minister Paswan is the chief of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The simmering tension in the NDA’s Bihar unit led Paswan to support the demand of special status for Bihar, which was originally raised by Nitish Kumar, according to senior JD(U) leaders. “There are only 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, out of which the BJP had won 22 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Thus, it is for the BJP to accommodate its alliance partners. The NDA alliance partners feel left out because of the lack of consultations between the parties," said the JD(U) leader. During the 2014 general elections, the NDA had won 31 out of the 40 seats in the state, while Nitish Kumar, who had left the NDA before the elections, could manage to win only two seats. “It is a matter political survival for Nitish Kumar because JD(U) had only managed to get two seats in the 2014 general elections and the party will have to drive a hard bargain with the BJP leadership," said the JD(U) leader. The JD(U) has decided to contest at least 25 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, but the party leadership is prepared to negotiate if Nitish Kumar remains the face of the NDA in Bihar, said senior leaders of the party. “If JD(U) contests less seats, not only will it lose its dominance in the state, but also the BJP would become the larger partner in Bihar. We want the JD(U) to remain the larger partner as has always been the case with Nitish Kumar as the undisputed leader of NDA in Bihar," the JD(U) leader said. An NDA leader indicated that Paswan with his six Lok Sabha seats and Kushwaha, who had won three Lok Sabha seats, do not want to give up their seats and instead want the BJP to reduce its number of seats to accommodate the demands of the JD(U). “The BJP returned to power in Bihar because of the JD(U) and we even have more seats in the assembly than the BJP so the JD(U) automatically is the senior partner in the state," said the JD(U) leader. BJP leaders, however, maintain that there is no problem between the allies in Bihar as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader of the country while Nitish Kumar is the leader of the state. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader of the country and Nitish Kumar is the leader of Bihar. The voters of Bihar will vote for Prime Minister Modi and Nitish Kumar. There is no dispute. There is no controversy. We will sit and discuss which party will contest how many seats," said Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister of Bihar. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.