New Delhi: Even as the final seat-sharing deal between BJP and JDU is yet to be sealed, Janata Dal United vice president Prashant Kishor on Sunday suggested that the pact should be finalised on the basis of allies' performance in 2009 and 2015, with Nitish Kumar's party getting a larger seat share.
"As of today, there is no discussion about the seat sharing but as and when the discussion happens, the ratio of seat sharing has to be basis 2009 and 2015. In 2009, JDU fought on 142 seats and BJP on 101, So the ratio was 1:1.4. In 2015, JDU won 71 and BJP 53 (when they contested against each other). Here again the ratio is 71/53, which equals to 1:1.35. As far as LJP is concerned, both parties could give equal number of seats from their respective quota," Kishor told News18.
Kishor's proposed formula comes after Shiv Sena quit the NDA over power-sharing disagreements with the BJP in Maharashtra, followed by a jolt to NDA in Jharkhand polls.
There are speculations that after mahagathbandhan's victory in Jharkhand, JDU may bargain for a lion's share in Bihar assembly election. Sources in JDU told News18 that Kumar may be indulging in muscle flexing through his trusted lieutenant Kishor, popularly known as PK.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has so far maintained the seat share would remain 50:50 as it was in the Lok Sabha elections, even as Nitish Kumar has been projected as NDA's face in Bihar.
In a interview to CNN-News18 in October, Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the NDA would contest the assembly polls under the leadership of CM Kumar.
"The gathbandhan (coalition) is atal (unshakeable). The NDA will contest assembly polls under the leadership of Nitish Kumar in Bihar. Nationally, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will continue to lead the coalition," Shah had said.
The NDA had made a clean sweep in Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, winning 39 out of 40 seats. The BJP and the LJP won 17 and six seats respectively, while the JD(U) succeeded in bagging 16 out of 17 that it had fought.
Among the opposition parties, only the Congress managed to win a seat while Lalu Prasad's RJD - which has ruled the state for over a decade and still has the highest number of MLAs — drew a blank.
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