Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meets PM Modi amid suspense over seat-sharing formula in state

New Delhi: As speculations over seat sharing among the NDA allies in Bihar intensified, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi on Friday. Kumar, along with political strategist and JDU vice president Prashant Kishore and senior JDU leader Vashishtha Narayan Singh, reached Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the seat distribution for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Kumar is expected to negotiate with BJP chief Amit Shah to chalk out a formula for seat sharing among the alliance members. JDU’s proposed formula: JDY has proposed a 50-50 seat sharing formula, under which first the ally parties Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) will be allotted seats, after this BJP and JDU would share the remaining seats on a 50-50 basis. As per sources BJP has given its nod to the formula and the party has also agreed to leave five such seats for JDU on which it had emerged victorious in 2014 elections. It is said that BJP will decide over the number of seats allotted to LJP and RSLP on the basis of the last assembly elections. As per sources LJP and RSLP will have to manage with a lesser number of seats this time as they will not get as many seats as during the 2014 polls. The final decision, however, is likely to be reached after the meeting between Nitish Kumar and Amit Shah.