Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad to Contest Bihar Polls Together, Seat-Sharing to be Worked Out, Says Samajwadi Party Leader

New Delhi:  The Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal United have decided to contest the coming Bihar polls in alliance, reported news agency Press Trust of India, quoting Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav. A six-member panel will be formed to take a call on seat sharing.

The leaders of the proposed Janata Parivar – RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United leader Nitish Kumar – met this afternoon at the Delhi home of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Hours before the meeting, Mr Kumar met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, whose party has indicated that it was willing to back Mr Kumar as the presumptive Chief Minister should the alliance talks fell through.

Opponents for several decades, Mr Prasad and Mr Kumar had been brought together by rival BJP’s massive gains in Bihar during the Lok Sabha elections.

The two tested the waters during the bye-elections for 10 seats, contesting as partners along with the Congress. They won six seats.

But as they were in talks to take the alliance forward, bringing in more parties with socialist roots into the fold, matters seem to come unstuck over the top job.