New Delhi [India], October 14 : Constituents of Mahagathbandhan continued their deliberations and consultations to resolve the stalemate over seat distribution on Monday, with the NDA constituents, BJP and JD-U, gearing up to release their list of candidates.
Jan Suraaj Party, which was the first to declare its list of candidates, declared its second list of candidates for the Bihar polls on Monday.
The last day of filing nominations for the first phase of assembly polls in Bihar is October 17.
Meetings are being held among Mahagathbandhan partners to reach a mutually acceptable formula for seat distribution. Mahagathbandhan includes Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party and Left parties. Discussions have been been held by Congress leadership with leaders of its Bihar unit.
Meetings have been held at the residence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and the Congress Party Parliamentary Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier in the day, AICC in-charge for Bihar, Krishna Allavaru, said that the candidate's list will come out after the seat sharing is finalised.
"List will come out after finalisation of the seat-sharing...Our effort is to ensure a good Government for the people of Bihar. So the alliance should not suffer a loss and Bihar should benefit", Allavaru told ANI here.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced its seat-sharing arrangement on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) 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.
Congress leader Manoj Kumar requested the top leadership of the Mahagathbandhan to announce the seat-sharing arrangement soon."We have full faith in our leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. We request that they finalise and announce the seat-sharing arrangement as soon as possible", he said.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari took a dig at Nitish Kumar over seat distribution in National Democratic Alliance.
"I sympathise with Nitish Kumar; he was not supposed to become the Chief Minister, and now he will not even be able to become an LoP either... They gave 101 seats to Nitish Kumar. He will not become the CM; the CM will definitely be from the Mahagathbandhan," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.
Bihar will go to the polls on November 6 and 11, and the results will be declared on November 14.
The Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, announced its second list of candidates for 65 assembly seats in Bihar on Monday. The list includes candidates for 19 reserved seats (18 SC and 1 ST) and 46 general seats.
The Samajwadi Party on Monday demanded the withdrawal of the Election Commission's guidelines about Anganwadi workers "identifying burqa-clad women voters" on polling stations before they cast their vote in Bihar elections, saying that the move is against "transparent, free, and fair polls".
In a memorandum to the Election Commission, Shyam Lal Pal, president of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, said that the directive has not only been issued for the Bihar elections but will also be implemented in future assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
He said the BJP and its allies had demanded the identification of burqa-clad women.
Pal said that the "directive of the Chief Election Commissioner" is against the rules of the Election Commission. He also cited a para from 'Hand Book of Returning Officer'
"The Samajwadi Party demands that the instructions issued by the Election Commission, requiring the identification of women voters wearing burqas to be verified by Anganwadi workers and allowing such voters to cast their votes only after verification, be withdrawn to ensure free and fair elections," said the memorandum, submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh.
The memorandum alleged that the "instructions target voters from a specific community" and said it is raising questions on the poll panel's independence and transparency.The Samajwadi Party said the "directive is unconstitutional and anti-democracy".
Election Commission had earlier said that Aanganwadi workers will be present at polling booths during Bihar polls to help verify the identity of burqa-clad voters.
Election Commission on Monday issued notification for the second phase of assembly polls in Bihar.