Our grand alliance will win 180 seats: Lalu

Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday said the grand alliance of RJD, JD-U and the Congress will win 180 of the 243 assembly seats in the upcoming Bihar elections.

"The grand alliance will win 180 seats and form the next government," Lalu said a day after the election commission announced dates for the polls.

"Poor, downtrodden, marginalised, backwards, dalits and minorities are showing clear sign to support the alliance to keep away the forces against them by defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the polls," he said.

Lalu said the grand alliance will announce the names of its candidates soon. "We have finalised the names but formal announcement would be made soon," he said.

The assembly polls in Bihar will be held in five phases, beginning on October 12 and ending on November 5.

The vote count is scheduled for November 8.