PATNA: The JD(U) on Friday claimed talks for seat-sharing among the NDA partners for the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Bihar was in the final stages.“We have almost completed the process amicably and the seat-sharing formula will be announced ‘bahut shighra’ (very soon),” JD(U) national general secretary (organization) and chief minister Nitish Kumar’s close confidante RCP Singh told reporters here.Singh, who is considered number 2 in the party after JD(U) president Nitish Kumar , also said there was no “big brother and younger brother” concept among the NDA partners. “All partners are equal in democracy and we all are ‘bhai-bhai’ in the state NDA,” he said.“Suppose a party in Bihar wins 121 seats in the 243-member state assembly. Will it be able to form the government? No. And, another party has just one member in the assembly. The government will be formed only with the help of that single member. Hence, where is the question of ‘big brother and younger brother’?” Singh asked. He further said the JD(U) would prefer fielding young candidates as per the social equations in the constituencies.Besides JD(U) and BJP, Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) of Upendra Kushwaha are the other NDA partners in Bihar.However, the RLSP refuted Singh’s claim. “The NDA has so far held no formal meeting on seat-sharing issue in Bihar. Or, at least, the RLSP has no information about any such meeting,” RLSP’s national general secretary and spokesperson Madhaw Anand told TOI over the phone from Motihari He said the RLSP was not bothered about what RCP or Nitish were saying to the media. “It may be their tactics to pressurise the BJP,” Anand said.He said the BJP being the biggest partner should immediately call a meeting of all NDA partners to discuss the seat-sharing issue.Earlier, on August 28, state JD(U) president Bashishtha Narain Singh had said seat-sharing among the state NDA partners would be finalized by the second week of September. “Now, as the second week of September is to end, the JD(U) has come out with another claim on the issue,” a political analyst said.The JD(U) had walked out of the NDA in 2013, but realigned with the BJP in Bihar and later with the NDA in July 2017. The JD(U) had contested 31 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 but won only two — Nalanda and Purnia, whereas BJP won 22, LJP six and RLSP three seats out of the total 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

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