17-17-6: Amit Shah Announces Bihar Seat-Sharing

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BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday announced the final seat-sharing agreement in Bihar for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, according to which the BJP and JD (U) would each contest on 17 seats, while six would be left for the LJP.

Apart from the six Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the LJP is also likely to get one seat in either Uttar Pradesh or Jharkhand and a Rajya Sabha berth, which is likely to be taken by Paswan, who is currently a minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet.

BJP president Amit Shah had earlier announced that his party and its key ally JD(U) will be contesting equal number of seats in the politically crucial state where the BJP-led NDA had won 31 seats in 2014.

The deployment of Jaitley, an old Bihar hand in the party with friendly relations with leaders of different parties, by the BJP to buy truce with the LJP underscores the importance the saffron party has attached to continuing its alliance with Paswan’s party, which enjoys strong influence among Dalits.

Top BJP leaders, including its president Shah and Jaitley, had held an hour-long meeting with LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Thursday to resolve their differences.