Patna: More than 50 days after chief minister Nitish Kumar and BJP chief Amit Shah met privately after dinner to thrash out the complex issue of seat sharing for the Lok Sabha election, numbers are "blowing in the wind".
It is being floated that the BJP will contest 20 seats, the JDU will get 12, the LJP five and the RLSP two seats, and one seat will go to the dissident Jehanabad RLSP MP, Arun Kumar. The only problem is that nobody is willing to confirm the figures though everyone acknowledges that talks on seat sharing are on.
"I am in Chennai. I have no knowledge about this formula," said JDU spokesperson and former MP K.C. Tyagi.
BJP minister Nand Kishore Yadav said: "I am not aware of such a formula. But it is hardly an issue. It will be resolved amicably once senior leaders of all NDA parties sit together."
Nand Kishore, however, admitted that the ground work for seat sharing has been done.
Bihar JDU president Bashishtha Narayan Singh recently hinted that NDA partners were close to finalising the formula.
"The issue of seat sharing is with our central leadership," said Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai. "All I can say is there is no tussle between the NDA allies. We will contest all the 40 seats and win them. Who will contest which seat and how many seats, will be decided once our central leaders sit with leaders of ally parties. The announcement will be made then."
BJP leaders pleading anonymity said that the formula "blowing in the wind" has some problems.
"For one, if sitting MP Arun Kumar is to be given a ticket from Jehanabad, it will be on either the JDU or the BJP symbol. Second, we do not know if RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha will remain with us," remarked a senior BJP leader, pointing out that even the LJP has to be convinced to contest five instead of the seven it got in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The JDU, according to informed sources, is insisting on contesting an equal number of seats as the BJP.
"Amit Shah during the meeting with Nitish Kumar said that his party knew how to take care of its allies. He should prove it," remarked a senior JDU leader.
Other JDU leaders pointed that even during the Grand Alliance days the JDU and the RJD contested an equal number of seats. BJP leaders pointed out that the demand is unreasonable given that JDU has only two sitting MPs and the BJP has 22.
"For adjustment's sake we can climb down a couple of seats. But it is unrealistic to expect us to slash down by one-third," a BJP leader said.
A section of JDU leaders alleged that the numbers "blowing in the wind" have been floated by BJP leaders at the Centre just gauge the reaction of allies.
