• Source:JND
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Bihar Assembly Elections 2025: Congress leaders in Bihar met their allies on Saturday to discuss the seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, which are likely to be held in October or November this year. A meeting was held at the official residence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

During the discussions, it was confirmed that the Pasupati Kumar Paras-led Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will contest elections in Bihar under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), Hindustan Times quoted sources as saying.

The Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) will receive seat allocation alongside coalition partners such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Left parties, and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), whereas the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will receive seats earmarked for RJD.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram said that the discussion on seat-sharing was held in a cordial atmosphere with all alliance partners reaching a broad consensus on seat allotments. “Unlike the last elections, Congress and other parties will field candidates in areas where they hold influence,” he added.

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After the meeting, he indicated that all major coalition partners may have to scale down their seat demands compared to the 2020 elections, as two or three new parties are expected to join the INDIA bloc this time.

While dismissing speculations of a rift between RJD and Congress over the vote-sharing following the Vote-Adhikar Yatra, he said, “The spirit of the party workers is very high after the grand success of Rahul Gandhi-led Voter Adhikar Yatra. But that does not mean that the Congress would make other partners sacrifice their seats.”

We are discussing every seat. Our discussions are going very smoothly. We have to contest the elections under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav (in the Mahagathbandhan). There is no dispute regarding the seats,” Mukesh Sahni, founder of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), said.

A broader seat-sharing arrangement has already been worked out with the distribution of seats among the coalition partners mutually identified during a meeting with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

“As things stand now, there could be one more meeting, preferably at the highest level between the RJD and the Congress to formally announce the seat-sharing agreement in the next couple of weeks,” HT quoted a senior RJD leader as saying.

Seat-Sharing Statistics of 2020 Elections

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD contested 144 seats while the Congress fielded its candidates on 70 seats. Among the Left parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation contested 19 seats, the Communist Party of India (CPI) six, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] four.

For the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, sources indicate a likely redistribution of seats: the RJD may contest 122-124 seats, the Congress 58-62, Left parties 31-33, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) 20-22, the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) 5-7, and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) 2-3 seats.

While the meeting was solely focused on seat-sharing for the upcoming Assembly Elections, the RJD proposed launching a new yatra on the pattern of Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra, aiming to cover districts that were missed during the previous campaign. The proposed yatra is likely to begin from Sasaram on September 15.

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However, RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said that the details of the yatra are yet to be finalised. “Wait for the notification, which will clear everything,” he added.