New Delhi, October 26: In the closed-door meeting held on Friday between BJP president Amit Shah and his JD(U) counterpart Nitish Kumar, the two sides sealed the Bihar pact for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

As per the seat-sharing arrangement finalised by the two sides, the JD(U) and the BJP will contest on an equal number of seats. Two smaller allies - Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP - may have to contend with fewer number of seats to contest as compared to 2014. Nitish Kumar Reaffirms JD(U)-BJP Alliance Moving Into 2019 Lok Sabha Polls.

"Upendra Kushwaha and Ram Vilas Paswan will remain with us. When a new ally has joined us, there will be a reduction in seat share for everyone," Shah said.

Reiterating faith in the leadership of Nitish Kumar in Bihar, Shah said the NDA will clock its best ever performance in the state in the upcoming polls. "People of Bihar have supported Narendra Modi ji at the Centre, and in the state they firmly behind Nitish Kumar," he said.

Nitish, while speaking to reporters, said the distribution of seats would not be a concern among the allies once the seat-sharing pact is officially released. "In two-three days, we will let you know which party has been allotted how many seats," the Bihar CM said.

In the last Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) and BJP had contested seperately as Nitish had walked out of the NDA over the projection of Narendra Modi as the PM candidate.

The results dealt a major blow to the JD(U) as the party was restricted to only 2 seats, whereas, the BJP had won 22. The LJP and RLSP had won 6 and 2 parliamentary constituencies, respectively.

This time, however, the BJP will have to contend on fewer number of seats than it won last time, as JD(U) is back into the NDA fold. Although the party has only 2 Lok Sabha MPs, it has 70 seats in the Bihar assembly -- 17 more than the BJP.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2018 06:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).