PATNA, Oct. 11 -- The BJP and its allies in the NDA after initial hiccups, have finally managed to get its house in order by bringing all its allies on the same plane as far as seat sharing is concerned. Though a formal announcement on seat sharing formula would be made public at a joint press conference in Patna soon -- likely today -- NDA leaders familiar with the development said that both JDU) and the BJP would be contesting seats in three figures with the LJP(RV) getting the tag of third largest party of the alliance. The NDA leaders said that as per the formula (not officially confirmed), JD (U) would contest on 102, BJP on 101, LJP (RV) on 25, HAM-S-8 and Upendra Kushwaha's RLM on 7. "Consensus has been reached. Numbers would be locked by tonight," said an NDA leader part of the negotiation. "Alternatively, a plan B is also ready. The BJP and JD(U) may sacrifice one seat each, to give additional seats to HAM-S or LJP (RV)," said another NDA leader. The first phase of Bihar assembly elections will be on November 6 and October 17 is the last date for filing papers. The BJP leaders, including union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Nityanand Rai and party functionary Vinod Tawde held another round of talks in Patna and New Delhi with RLM, HAM-S and this was followed by joint meeting of the BJP and the JD (U) leaders at deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary's house in Patna. "Everything is final now," said Tawde in Patna. In New Delhi, Rai continued his parleys with Chirag Paswan on Friday. Paswan himself confirmed that seat-sharing is nearing completion. "The talks are going in a positive manner and are in their end stage now. We want to hold discussions on all minute issues, seats, candidates, and campaigning," said Paswan. Union Minister Nityanand Rai also backed Paswan's statement, "Chirag Paswan is a Union Minister and he has minced no words in saying what he has said. Everything is positive," he said. The BJP has already completed the candidate selection process at the state level. A panel of three potential candidates has been prepared for each seat the party is likely to contest. The BJP's Bihar Core Group will meet in Delhi on October 11 to finalize these names. After this, a Central Election Committee meeting is scheduled for October 12, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, and other senior leaders. Only after these meetings will the candidate names be finalised, and the NDA's first joint list is expected to be released on October 13 marking the formal start of the NDA's election campaign. The LJP(RV) has called a meeting of its Parliamentary board on Saturday morning to discuss seat sharing within the NDA and finalise the party's candidates....