Patna (Bihar) [India], October 13 : Amid speculations of dissatisfaction in Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) after receiving six seats in NDA's seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha said that HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi is "satisfied" with the decision.
Speaking to reporters at the Patna Airport on Monday, Sinha said that Jitan Ram Manjhi stands with the NDA leadership.
"Manjhi is also satisfied. He has clearly stated that he will stand with our leadership," he said.
Expressing confidence in NDA's victory in the upcoming Assembly polls, the Deputy CM said that the seat-sharing formula was decided with a mutual agreement.
He said, "NDA has successfully decided (on the seat-sharing formula) with mutual agreement, for the benefit of the people of Bihar. We will make a government with a full majority and increase the rate of development in Bihar."
Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said that the alliance will soon announce the list of candidates.
"An agreement on seats has been reached. NDA is completely comfortable. Now, we will soon announce the names of the candidates and their assembly constituencies," Choudhary said.
Earlier on Sunday, the NDA officially announced its seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Under the arrangement, the BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest 29 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest six seats each.
Meanwhile, the BJP held a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in Delhi on Sunday, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President JP Nadda. After a long brainstorming session on seat distribution and candidate selection, the BJP is likely to announce its first list of candidates on Monday in Patna, Bihar, according to sources.
A top BJP source said, "The party is likely to announce its first list of candidates tomorrow (Monday) in Patna. Today (Sunday), we discussed almost all seats, and names have been finalised for most of them."
The 243 Assembly seats will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with counting of votes to be held on November 14.