With the upcoming assembly elections approaching fast in Bihar, all parties from both sides of the alliances are busy weighing their options for the elections to the 243 assembly segments in the state.
Three of the opposition party’s ‘Grand Alliance’ members met in Patna on Friday night and discussed the options before them and the strategy for the alliance partners. But out of the five partners only three held the meeting without the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Former Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi’s residence hosted the late-night meeting at his residence which was attended by Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) president Upendra Kushwaha and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani, according to IANS sources.
HAM spokesperson Danish Rizwan confirmed the news of the meeting and said that Kushwaha and Sahani had visited Manjhi’s residence on Friday night and had a long discussion.
The discussion was held on seat sharing in the Grand Alliance and the formation of a coordination committee, said sources and claimed that these leaders are also considering formation of a separate front to fight the election.
The leader of these three parties did not divulge on any details about what was discussed in the meeting.
These three parties had held a meeting earlier as well in which the leaders of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were not invited, indicating that it is a tactics to put pressure on the RJD and the Congress to give away more seats to them for the upcoming assembly elections.
Meanwhile, the part of ruling alliance Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan too held a meeting with the state working committee members via video conferencing in the run-up to the elections, to look into the preparations of the party, reported TOI.