PATNA, Sept. 19 -- A 30-minute meeting between Union home minister Amit Shah and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at a hotel in Patna on Thursday morning set off the buzz that the seat-sharing talks in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are in the final stage. NDA leaders, however, are tight-lipped about how seats are being claimed by constituents and how much could be allocated to each one of them. This was the first major formal meeting between Kumar and Shah since the former's return to the NDA fold in 2024. Political observers believe its outcome could significantly shape Bihar's pre-poll dynamics. Reports had suggested last week that major NDA partners -- BJP and JD(U) -- will contest over 100 seats each, and smaller partners like Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) may bag 20 seats, remaining ones going to Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular and Rashtriya Lok Morcha. The Shah-Nitish meeting took place against this background and could be crucial in deciding the final seat-formula of the alliance. Since there has also been reports of friction among the NDA allies, the meeting could also have discussed ways to quell "heart-burns" among smaller allies. While smaller allies like HAS-S and LJP(R-V) have denied rifts with NDA partners in public, they have not said anything on being offered lesser number of seats. Union minister and HAM-S leader Jitan Ram Manjhi had been openly demanding no less than 15-20 seats on the plea of getting state-level party tag while LJPs(R-V)), led by Chirag Paswan, has sought "respectable" representation, with party's Jamui MP Arun Bharti even hinting at a claim of anywhere between 43 and 137 seats. Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and JD(U) national working president Sanjay Jha were also present at the meeting. Some people in the know of the discussion at the meeting said that it zeroed on election strategy as the polls are drawing very near and the also deliberating on the final shape of the seat-sharing arrangement. A senior JD(U) leader however called the meeting merely a courtesy meeting of leaders. "It was a courtesy meeting. He is the Union home minister and Nitish Kumar besides being the CM of the state is also the JD(U) national president. No talks on seat sharing took place," said JD(U) senior leader and minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary. But, people aware of the developments within the NDA said that the bloc is concealing its cards and waiting for the INDIA bloc to first declare its seat-allotment. According to these people, the NDA can announce its seat arrangement after September 25. Senior BJP leaders of the state, meanwhile, made it clear that seat-sharing won't be made public till the elections are announced....