BJP parliamentary board will finalise candidates for Bihar polls: UP Dy CM 

Patna, Oct 8 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Bihar election deputy in-charge Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said that the final decision on the selection of candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections will be taken by the BJP’s parliamentary board.

Maurya attended a high-level meeting at the BJP state headquarters in Patna, where senior party leaders - including Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal, Union Minister Giriraj Singh, and Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai - were present.

During the meeting, leaders discussed potential candidates for all constituencies.

The shortlisted names will now be forwarded to the party’s parliamentary board for final approval.

Responding to questions about internal differences within the NDA, Maurya said, “Every constituent partner is happy. The NDA is united, and we will win the Bihar election. There is a strong wave in favour of the NDA in Bihar.”

His remarks come amid visible discontent among NDA allies, with LJPRV chief Chirag Paswan and HAM patron Jitan Ram Manjhi expressing dissatisfaction over the seat-sharing arrangement.

As the seat-sharing talks within the NDA continue, sources have revealed that Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan is seeking 40 seats to contest in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) patron and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has publicly reiterated his demand for 15 seats, warning that his party may opt out of the electoral contest if the NDA’s senior partners - the BJP and JDU - fail to accommodate the demand.

Manjhi pointed to his party’s strong performance in the 2020 Bihar Assembly election, where HAM contested seven seats and won four, recording a strike rate of around 60 per cent.

He said that if the NDA allocates 15 seats this time, HAM could win eight to nine seats and secure the status of a regional party in Bihar.

Recalling a recent disappointment, Manjhi remarked that during an all-party meeting convened by the Election Commission, HAM was not invited.

“It was a bad experience when the Election Commission did not call HAM to participate. Despite having four MLAs, one MLC, and one MP, our party has not yet received recognition as a regional party,” he said.

--IANS

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