BJP adamant on contesting 160 seats

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Wednesday that it will contest not less than 160 of the 243 Assembly seats in Bihar, leaving 83 to its three allies.  BJP’s national vice-president Renu Devi said: “The BJP will put up its own candidates from 160 constituencies.” 

She said the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to contest 170 seats but had decided to bring down the number by 10 in view of the demands made by the three allies. 

“We will not give more than 83 seats to the LJP, RLSP and HAM,” she said. 

She said the final seat sharing will be announced within a week. “We will also announce our candidates by September 15.” Last month, leaders of the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party said the BJP must contest 102 seats and leave 141 to be split up among its three allies.

Meanwhile, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s DNA barb on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Wednesday raked up a similar controversy by alleging that Kumar’s DNA has “gone wrong” after aligning with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

He also claimed that Kumar has “lost his good senses” after joining forces with the <g data-gr-id="15">Rashtruiya</g> Janata Dal (RJD)supremo, who, he alleged, has “cast a spell” on the Bihar Chief Minister who is “speaking the same language against the BJP,” as Prasad has been doing all  these years.