NDA to announce Bihar poll candidates Monday evening, says BJP chief

The ruling NDA will announce its candidates for the assembly elections in Bihar on Monday evening, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal said.

Denying that there are any differences within the NDA over the seat-sharing arrangement announced on Sunday, he said the coalition will fight the elections unitedly.

"The NDA has already announced its seat-sharing arrangements. Now, candidates of all NDA constituents, including the BJP, will be announced in the evening," he told reporters.

"The five constituents of the NDA in the state are like 'Panch Pandavas', and will unitedly fight the assembly polls to form the government with an overwhelming majority," he added.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and the BJP will contest the elections on 101 seats each, leaving the rest of the 243 seats for smaller allies.

Union minister Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas) will fight on 29 seats, while Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM and RLM of Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha will contest on six seats each.

HAM and RLM have expressed their resentment over the seat-sharing arrangement.

After returning from Delhi in the morning, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha said the seat-sharing arrangement has been finalised based on mutual agreement.

"We will form the government with a full majority," he claimed.