Upendra Kushwaha fielded a junior party functionary to remind the BJP of violation of "coalition dharma" for n... Read More

(This story originally appeared in on Sep 17, 2015)

NEW DELHI: Moments after BJP released its first list of 43 candidates for Bihar polls late Tuesday night, Upendra Kushwaha, Union minister and chief of BJP's alliance partner RLSP, fielded a junior party functionary to remind the BJP of violation of "coalition dharma" for not consulting allies over the seats it was going to contest. BJP had announced candidates in Kushwaha's own Lok Sabha constituency without consulting him.

On Tuesday morning BJP chief Amit Shah sent Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan to call on LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan to allay apprehensions over seat-sharing. Still, LJP parliamentary board chief Chirag Paswan came out to publicly reveal that LJP was "shocked" over the seat distribution. On Monday, BJP went out of the way to humour Jitan Ram Manjhi before the announcement of seat-sharing deal. BJP, however, accommodated Manjhi from the share of LJP and RLSP seats.

For the NDA that is seeking to dislodge Nitish-Lalu from the seat of power in Patna this fortnight-long drama has been particularly bad optics for the alliance after momentum to their election campaign was given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's four pre-poll rallies. But, the BJP remains unfazed by this temporary lull in their campaign. "It appears to be a part of BJP strategy to delay the issues so that it leaves little elbowroom for alliance partners to contemplate serious manipulations," said an NDA leader .

It has been so crafted that BJP hasn't conceded an inch, while the allies have been forced to toe its line despite feeling shortchanged in the process. Against partners' hopes of a sweet deal, BJP leaders in Bihar were aware that allies will be limited to 83 seats. BJP's negotiation with alliance partners — separate as well as together — boiled down to this boundary condition. No wonder, it was a jostling for space among the LJP, RLSP and HAM.

NDA partners apprehend BJP had identified its 160 seats when they were presented with tentative list of seats open for alliance partners to choose from soon after the seat-sharing was declared on Monday. No wonder, the BJP proceeded ahead by announcing its candidates from 43 seats even as the alliance partners waited for further consultation.