Rift persists in Orissa

By N. Ramdas

BHUBANESWAR, JAN. 28. With barely 72 hours left for the last date for filing nominations for 70 seats in the first phase of polling to the Orissa Assembly, the BJD-BJP alliance is yet to sort out its differences on seat-sharing.

Ever since the Union Minister of Mines and president of the BJD, Mr. Naveen Patnaik returned to Bhubaneswar from New Delhi on Thursday, hectic parleys have been on to sort out the differences. Though the alliance was expected to declare its list of candidates today, nothing came through till late this evening.

However, a senior spokesman of the BJP said that the issue had been more or less resolved and Mr. Patnaik was to get back to the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K.Advani, on the outcome of the Political Affairs Committee meeting of the BJD this evening. His party was awaiting information from the BJD and the BJP high command about the number of seats the BJD had agreed to give them.

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Section  : National
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