As Election Nears, INDIA Seat-Sharing In This State May Be Issue: Sources

Talks will possibly begin in states where regional parties are major partners, such as Bihar, Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. An agreement in the first two is likely to be hard-fought given the strength of the parties involved. Deals in the latter two may be easier, although in Maharashtra deciding which seats the Congress, the Shiv Sena UBT and the NCP will contest may be a problem.

Bihar's 40 seats have to be split between the Congress, the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. In 2019 the JDU - then with the Bharatiya Janata Party - won 16 of the 17 seats it contested and that puts Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a strong position. The RJD won zero but it is unlikely to be cut out since it is the largest party in the Assembly. The JDU can't rule sans its support.

Sources have said the JDU and the RJD, whose leader Tejashwi Yadav is Deputy Chief Minister, want to contest an equal number of seats and divide the rest among the Congress (which won just one seat) and smaller outfits. Understandably then, finding an agreement here will take time. In fact, the Congress' Bihar chief, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, has said talks haven't officially begun.

Over in Maharashtra - which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha - an agreement on division of seats may be easier to come by. There are three INDIA allies here - the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction. Sources have said there is an agreement-in-principle to divide seats equally - 16 each - among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies. There is also consensus that the three will give seats to smaller partners from their own quota.