Can Electoral Bargaining By Smaller NDA Allies Make The Larger Stakeholders Unea ...
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[*]In the last Bihar Assembly election, the NDA narrowly defeated the Mahagathbandhan by just 12 seats, despite both alliances having nearly identical vote shares
[*]With elections approaching, smaller NDA allies like Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM are demanding more seats — HAM threatens to contest 100 seats if not allotted at least 20, citing electoral viability and party recognition requirements.
[*]While leaders like JD(U)’s Rajeev Ranjan Prasad stress coalition unity and mutual respect under PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, the smaller allies’ caste-based influence and past electoral impact give them significant leverage, keeping major partners cautious.
In the last Bihar assembly election, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) may have kept the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) out of power and formed the government with a margin with just 12 seats, but both alliances had nearly identical vote shares. The NDA secured 37.26 per cent votes, while the Mahagathbandhan got 37.23 per cent, which is barely a 0.03 per cent gap―poll experts consider this negligible. It is precisely this thin margin that underlines the crucial role of smaller parties within the alliances.
As the assembly election season draws closer in Bihar, these smaller allies have begun to raise their voices more loudly. Until recently, it appeared there was harmony inside the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan alliances, but is now showing signs of friction, especially over seat-sharing.
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Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav Lead Bihar Bandh Against Bihar Electoral Roll Revision
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