Assembly bypolls: Seat sharing pact sealed between JD(U), RJD, Congress

In a major political development in Bihar, the 'secular' parties have joined hands to fight "communal" BJP in the upcoming Assembly by-elections.

According to the sources, as the three parties finalised the deal, the JD(U) will contest 3 seats, RJD 5 and Congress 2.

The so called non-secular show of Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha polls shattered the stronghold of caste-based politics in the Hindi heartland. In Bihar, as the state is gearing up for Assebmly elections, it seems, it will be Mandal vs Kamandal again.

For the next month's Assembly bypolls, Nitish has already expressed his desire to join hands with secular parties including the Congress. Bitter foes - Lalu's RJD and Nitish's JDU - have already turned friends and agreed to share seats.

All political parties that oppose the BJP are likely to sink political differences to check the further surge of the party. The August 21 bypolls to 10 Assembly seats will be a litmus test of their unity.

The combined vote share of RJD, JD (U) and Congress in 2014 general elections stacked up to 44.3% against the NDA vote share of 38.8%. In the 2010 assembly elections, JD (U), RJD and Congress had together polled 49.83% of the total votes, against 23.21% of BJP and LJP, said an analysis published in a leading newspaper.

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar said two days ago that the party would contest the bypoll for 10 Assembly constituencies together with RJD and Congress to defeat BJP. Nitish met RJD leaders in Delhi in this regard.

BJP described coming together of JD(U), RJD and Congress as an "unholy alliance" and said people would not accept them.

"People of Bihar have already rejected these parties in Lok Sabha election and hence there coming together against BJP will yield no result," senior BJP leader and leader of Opposition in Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav told media.