As political parties gear up for the high-stakes Bihar elections, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to release its list of candidates soon. Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal confirmed that the seat-sharing arrangement has been finalised and will be made public over the weekend.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Jaiswal said the BJP held a three-day election committee meeting in Delhi to discuss seat-sharing and candidate selection.
“The BJP is a national party, and the central leadership selects candidates through the Central Election Committee, the Central Parliamentary Board," he said.
According to Jaiswal, the official announcement of seat-sharing is expected on Saturday, followed by the release of candidate names by Sunday. “The seat-sharing issue has been resolved. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, the candidates will be selected and announced in Delhi," he added.
Seat-Sharing In Other Alliances
Meanwhile, the opposition INDIA bloc is yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula or declare its candidates. A recent meeting at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s residence ended without a consensus, leading to growing impatience among smaller allies. The CPI(M) has directed its two sitting MLAs to file nominations next week while awaiting agreement on nine additional seats it intends to contest.
So far, only Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party has announced a few of its candidates. On the first day of nominations for Phase 1—covering 121 constituencies—only two independent candidates filed their papers.
The Election Commission of India has scheduled polling for Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats in two phases—on November 6 and November 11. The counting of votes will take place on November 14.
To ensure smooth conduct of the elections, the Election Commission recently completed an online training and assessment programme for Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) on October 9 and 10. The two-day session focused on the nomination process, election management, and included doubt-clearing interactions to strengthen preparedness for the polls.
