Bihar Cong chief in Delhi to finalise seat-sharing with RJD

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Patna Sep 30 (IANS) In a bid to work out a seat sharing formula in the Grand Alliance, two members including Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha, have reached Delhi to discuss and finalise the arrangement with the top leadership of the party.

"The top leadership has called us with details of the seats where the Congress party has a good chance. The standing committee will scrutinise them today and we will inform our alliance partner RJD either on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning," Jha said.

The Congress party swung into action following the pressure applied by the RJD to finalise the seats by Wednesday evening.

The Congress had won 27 seats in the 2015 Assembly elections while the RJD had emerged as the single largest party with 80 seats.

According to a RJD insider, a party team may go to Delhi to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi before the seat sharing formula is announced. It is expected on Friday morning.

The insider said that the RJD leadership wants to allocate about 55 to 58 seats to the Congress.

After the RLSP and HAM quit the Grand Alliance, only the RJD and the Congress are left in it to challenge the NDA.

"Our top leadership has suggested to the Congress party to claim only those seats where they have a good chance of winning," the RJD official said.

"The RJD is very confident this time about defeating the NDA because of the anti-incumbency factor after 15 years. The tall claims of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar fall flat on the ground. The candidates of the RJD have the potential to win every seat in the state," he said.

The RJD claims that the 2020 election will be a cakewalk for it. The party is expecting a three- fourth majority in the Bihar Assembly having 243 seats, say sources.

--IANS

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