Amid allies bargain, NDA seats deal likely by October 13

NEW DELHI/PATNA : The BJP has shortlisted candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections for seats falling under its quota, sources in the party said on Thursday. This followed a series of party meetings in Patna. The final approval of these candidates is likely to take place on October 11 during the BJPs Central Election Committees expected meeting, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other key members. According to the sources, the BJP central leadership will also hold a final meeting with the heads of its Bihar-based NDA partners before announcing the seat-sharing with them jointly after the meeting of BJP Central Election Committee. The BJPs Central Election Committee will review the shortlisted names, as the party is initially understood to have shortlisted three to five names for each Assembly seat it had contested and won in 2020 Assembly election. A senior BJP source on Thursday hinted that the seat-sharing agreement finalised with NDA allies will be announced jointly by leaders of the alliance at a media briefing, most likely on Monday. This will likely be followed by the release of the names of BJP candidates for the seats that remain in the BJPs share. Sources also indicated that the BJP and quite possibly other NDA allies as well, will announce the names of their candidates for both phases of the elections, given the shorter timeframe between the notification date, filing of nominations, and final scrutiny. Meanwhile, the stalemate over seat-sharing within the ruling NDA for the election seems to be easing with Union Minister of State for Home and senior BJP leader Nityanand Rai holding a meeting with Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan in New Delhi on Thursday. Rai visited union minister Chirags Delhi residence twice as BJP wanted to clear the air as soon as possible. Rai couldnt meet Chirag when he visited his residence for the first time as he returned after meeting his mother. However, Rai went again and held the crucial meeting with him. After the meeting, both leaders interacted with the media with Rais vibrant smile dropping ample hints that he succeeded in his mission and was able to end the deadlock over seat sharing. Rai said, Smile on my face says it all as Chirag, standing nearby, was also seen smiling. Everything is positive. Chirag will tell everything himself when the time comes. After meeting Chirag, he also called on Bihar BJP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan at his residence, apparently to brief him about the outcome of the meeting. Jan Suraaj Party releases first list of 51 candidates Prashant Kishors Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) on Thursday announced the first list of its 51 candidates for the Bihar Assembly polls. Out of 51 seats, seven seats are reserved for SCs. In the first list, 11 candidates are from OBC community, 17 from extremely backward communities and seven candidates are Muslims.