Elections 2019: RJD gets 19 seats, Congress to fight from nine

Ticket seekers and supporters demonstrate outside Bihar's Congress office ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, in Patna, on Friday. Pic/PTI

Patna: The Opposition mahagathbandhan in Bihar on Friday announced its seat-sharing formula for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, half of which will be fought by Lalu Prasad's RJD and nine by the Congress.

Former JD(U) President and NDA Convener Sharad Yadav will contest on the RJD symbol and merge his party Loktantrik Janata Dal with it after the Lok Sabha polls, RJD National Spokesman Manoj Jha and RJD State President Ram Chandra Purve told the media.

Recent entrants to the grand alliance - Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insan Party will field their candidates in five and three seats, respectively, they said.

As per the analysis of the seat sharing formula, the RJD, which wanted to contest 20, had to part with one seat from its quota to the CPI(ML) Liberation, while the Congress, which had reportedly bargained hard for 11 seats, had to settle for nine with the assurance of a Rajya Sabha berth.

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