LJP to contest 190 seats in Bihar polls

Lok Janshakti Party led by Union minister Ramvilas Paswan is set to contest 190 of 243 assembly seats and remaining seats leaving for its allies the Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc in the coming Bihar Assembly polls.

According to LJP sources, the party may field candidates against the Congress, unlike its previous stand not to contest against Congress in the polls.

Bihar polls: CPI(ML) dumps third front

LJP spokesman Sanjay Singh claimed in Patna on Monday that LJP along with CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc had formed a third front to take on Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive Alliance and Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the polls.

Paswan would announce the seat-sharing formula in Patna on Tuesday or Wednesday in the presence of the leaders of CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP, he said.

CPI is expected to contest 35 to 40 seats, while Forward Bloc and RSP would fight in less than 10 seats, he said. Singh said that LJP is hopeful of a consolidation of Muslim-Dalit vote bank in view of Ramvilas Paswan's consistent advocacy of a Muslim chief minister.