BJP Proposes 20 Bihar Seats for Itself, 12 for Nitish’s JD(U) in 2019

The BJP wants to contest half of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and leave the remaining 20 to its allies, under a reported seat-sharing arrangement: 12 for Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), 6 for Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP and two for Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP. Leaders of the NDA have denied that any formula had been finalised and said talks were continuing.

Past seat shares

When they fought on opposite sides in 2014, the JD(U) contested 38 seats and won two, while the BJP contested 30 and won 22. As allies, the JD(U) and the BJP contested 25 and 15 seats respectively in 2009, and 26 and 14 in 2004.

The negotiations

A JD(U) functionary, speaking anonymously, said Nitish had told the BJP to set aside seats for the two junior allies first, and then split the rest equally between the two bigger partners. In June, JD(U) leaders began seeking a bigger share, calling their party the “big brother” in Bihar and saying Nitish should be the NDA’s face in the state.

BJP president Amit Shah met Nitish in Patna on July 12. On July 16 the chief minister told reporters he expected a BJP proposal within three to four weeks; that deadline later moved to the second week of September. On Wednesday Nitish was in Delhi; he attended a memorial for M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Thursday and was due back in Patna on Friday.

Possible changes

Sources said the BJP and the JD(U) might swap a few seats, and that sitting MPs could be replaced in a few seats, among them Patna Sahib, Darbhanga, Vaishali, Begusarai, Madhubani and Valmiki Nagar. Analysts said Patna Sahib and Darbhanga, held by “rebel” MPs Shatrughan Sinha and Kirti Azad, were likely to see new candidates.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election the BJP won 303 of the 543 seats nationally and Narendra Modi began a second term on 30 May 2019.

Originally published on 31 August 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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