Crucial NDA meet today as allies miffed with BJP over seat-sharing in Bihar

New Delhi:  Top leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue of seat-sharing for the crucial assembly elections in Bihar.

According to reports, the meeting will be held at BJP leader Ananth Kumar's residence at 11 am today.

The meting comes a day the BJP announced a list of 43 candidates - a move which its ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party promptly described as being against "coalition dharma".

Senior RLSP leader and its spokesperson Fazal Islam Mallik said the BJP's move was unfair. "The RLSP strongly objects to this move by the BJP.  The BJP and its allies are still discussing seat sharing."

On Monday, the BJP had announced a seat sharing deal under which the LSP was given 23 seats, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party was given 40 and Jitan Ram Manhji's newly formed Hindustani Awaam Morcha (Secular) was given 20 seats.

While the formula placated Manjhi - who wanted a larger share of seats - it had left Paswan miffed.

Now the RLSP - which commands a chunk of votes among the Keori community - contends that the deal is yet to be sealed, since only the numbers of seats have been decided and discussions are on regarding the constituencies the allies get to contest.

Elections will be held in Bihar in five phases beginning October 12. The counting will be held on November 8.

Of the 43 candidates announced by the BJP, 19 will be fielded on Phase 1 of the polls, 15 in Phase 2 and nine in the rest.

The allies - who currently have 25 of the 81-odd seats going to polls in the first two phases - are expected to announce their candidates soon.

BJP chief Amit Shah has also reportedly formed three teams to deal with the allies over any issue relating to sharing of seats in Bihar.

Bihar leaders Ashwini Chaubey and Mangal Pandey will be dealing with RLSP, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan with Paswan and agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh with Manjhi.