Bihar Elections 2025: The political landscape in Bihar appears poised for fresh changes and possible defections ahead of the Assembly elections. Long-standing BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is rumoured to be mulling an alliance with the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party after seat sharing talks stumbled. Buzz about a possible crack in the NDA ranks grew even as BJP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and other party leaders met with Chirag Paswan at his Delhi residence on Tuesday.
Sources within the LJP told NDTV that an alliance could not be ruled out because doors “always remained open in politics”. The newly formed JSP will be making its election debut with the upcoming contest — with plans to field candidates from all 243 constituencies. The LJP (RV) has reportedly sought 40 seats while the BJP remains willing to allot only 25 Assemblies.
“Options are always available in politics…Chirag Paswan has not moved into his official residence on Sunhari Bagh Road. Respectable seats in Bihar matter more than a single berth in the Cabinet,” The Week cited local media reports to add.
Local media reports indicated that Kishor was seeking an ally with a strong voter base — with Paswan projected as an ideal candidate. The undivided LJP had contested 43 seats as a member of the NDA in 2015 but opted to go solo in the subsequent election. The party had eventually walked out of the NDA in 2020 due to differences with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It could only win one out of 135 contested seats but ended up seriously damaging the Janata Dal (United).
Seat sharing talks with BJP continue
Senior BJP leaders held talks with Paswan over the seat sharing issue on Tuesday. Besides the number of seats Paswan has sought, his party is keen on certain constituencies seen to be friendlier to his party’s prospects and has asked for being allotted a couple of assembly seats in each of the five Lok Sabha constituencies it had won in 2024.
The party is part of the National Democratic Alliance alongside the BJP, Janata Dal (United) Hindustan Awami Morcha, Rashtriya Lok Shakti Party. The legislative alliance in Bihar is led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. LJP (RV) has no sitting MLA in the Bihar assembly following the defection of Rajkumar Singh to the JD(U).
‘NDA will contest unitedly’ insists party leaders
Meanwhile JD(U) MP and National Working President, Sanjay Kumar Jha emphasised that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will contest the Bihar Assembly elections “unitedly”.
“The NDA will contest the election unitedly. The biggest issue in these elections is where Bihar will be in the next 25 years after the formation of the Government,” he told ANI.
The Election Commission had on Monday announced the schedule of the assembly election in Bihar. Polling will be held on November 6 and 11, and the counting of votes on November 14, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had said. Neither the NDA nor the opposition grand alliance has so far announced seat-sharing arrangements with their allies.
(With inputs from agencies)