The Hindu : Anti-NDA parties close to accord in Bihar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

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National

Anti-NDA parties close to accord in Bihar

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, MARCH 24. After weeks of protracted negotiations, the anti-NDA parties in Bihar appear to be close to an agreement on seat-sharing in the State. A formal announcement is likely in a few days.

The breakthrough finally came at a meeting on Tuesday between the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Laloo Prasad Yadav, senior Congress leaders Arjun Singh and R.K. Dhawan, the CPI(M) politburo member, Sitaram Yechury, and the Lok Janshakti Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan. According to the broad agreement among the parties, of the 40 seats in Bihar, the CPI (M) will contest one seat while the Congress has been allotted five and the LJP eight. The RJD has also agreed to give the Katihar seat to Tariq Anwar of the Nationalist Congress Party. Significantly, the CPI, which has announced its intention to contest five seats in the State on its own, is not part of the alliance.

Having succeeded in persuading the allies to tone down their demands, Mr. Yadav flew back to Patna today to give the finishing touches to the alliance. Before leaving, a visibly relaxed Mr. Yadav told newsmen that the alliance was all but sewn up, and only the loose ends needed to be tied up. Mr. Paswan confirmed that an agreement had been reached and predicted a clean sweep for the alliance. "The NDA will be hard put to even open its account in Bihar," he claimed.

The mood in the Congress camp was, however, different, with the leaders of its Bihar unit appearing to be cut up over the number of seats allotted to the party. They staged a demonstration outside the residence of R.K. Dhawan, AICC general secretary in charge of the State. Several of them complained that the party had been given short shrift by the RJD and it would have been better off contesting on its own.

The LJP appears to be the biggest gainer in the seat-sharing arrangement. The Dalits account for 12 per cent of the votes in Bihar, and Mr. Paswan has succeeded in convincing the allies about his ability to get this vote transferred to candidates of the alliance. The seats allotted to his party include Hajipur, the seat held by him, and Rosera, represented by his brother, Ram Chandra Paswan. The other seats given to the LJP are Purnea, represented by Pappu Yadav, Ballia, Monghyr, and Nawadah . The CPI(M) had asked for an extra seat in addition to the Bhagalpur seat held by it, but finally agreed to drop that demand.

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