New Delhi: It seems the presence of Upendra Kushwaha in NDA as its partner has started irking other key partners – JDU and BJP – as the decision to announce the seat-sharing deal in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections has been 'put on hold' for now.
According to sources, both the key allies of the NDA are waiting for Kushwaha to either quit the alliance or join Mahagadbandhan. "Kushwaha has no reason to bargain for more seats than what he has been 'offered' as his performance in the 2015 state assembly elections was very poor. He had failed to galvanise his 'cadre vote' in favour of the NDA during the assembly elections," the sources said.
"The seat-sharing between JD (U) and BJP has been finalised and we are waiting for Kushwaha's final move," the sources said, adding that JD(U) has got all those parliamentary constituencies into its kitty which are either dominated by minority communities or backward classes.
"There were some disagreements with NDA's other ally partner Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) over some seats, which has been 'resolved. The formal announcement about it would be made soon," the sources said.
According to sources, BJP would contest on more seats than JD (U), while LJP and Kushwaha's RLSP would get five and two seats respectively.
In case, Kushwaha quits NDA, his share of seats would be shared between BJP and JD(U), the sources said. Bihar has a total of 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Earlier this year, Kumar had sent back BJP's draft seat-sharing plan as BJP had planned to contest 22 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
In 2014, the Narendra Modi-led BJP had won 22 seats in Bihar. LJP and RLSP had won six and three seats, respectively. Despite having a vote share of over 15 per cent, JD(U) had won just two seats.
Notably, Kushwaha, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development in Modi Cabinet, had indicated about him quitting the alliance as he had commented that a "kheer" could be prepared with milk from the Yadavs and rice from the Kushwahas.