Seat sharing on agenda as Amit Shah meets Nitish Kumar in Patna

BJP president Amit Shah was due in Patna on Thursday for breakfast and dinner meetings with Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) leader and Chief Minister of Bihar. The visit came amid reports of differences between the allies over how to divide Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats for the 2019 election.

Seat-sharing tensions

JD(U) spokespersons had repeatedly described their party as the “elder brother” in the alliance. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, who was in Patna on Monday, acknowledged that Nitish Kumar was naturally the NDA’s leader in Bihar as he headed the coalition government. With the JD(U) back in the NDA, dividing seats among the partners was expected to be difficult, though leaders on both sides hoped the differences would be settled once the two leaders met.

On Monday Kumar said his party’s alliance with the BJP applied only to Bihar, which explained why the JD(U) had fielded candidates against the BJP in several other states, but he ruled out joining any anti-BJP front. Dismissing talk of a rift as “hot air”, he said all issues linked to the 2019 polls would be resolved in due course and the outcome made public. “There is no hurry,” he said.

Shah’s schedule

According to a state BJP release, Shah was to land at 10am and go to the state guest house for breakfast with Kumar and other senior leaders, followed later by dinner at the Chief Minister’s official residence. At Bapu Sabhagar he was to meet party workers from booth to state level, spend an hour with the state social media unit, meet party vistaraks and, after lunch at the venue, discuss election strategy with heads of Shakti Kendras, who are seen as the party’s micro-level poll managers. State BJP president Nityanand Rai was quoted as calling the tour grand and historic.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 303 of 543 seats and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.

See also: Janata Dal (United), Bharatiya Janata Party

Originally published on 12 July 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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