Cong.(I) to go it alone in Haryana

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. The Congress(I) today called off talks with Mr Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and decided to contest all the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana on its own, party sources said. Nor would there be any tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party, it added.

Although some agreement is reported to have been reached that the RLD would field three candidates, it seems that the idea of an electoral adjustment with Mr. Singh's party was dropped due to the opposition of the State unit which felt that the partnership would not be of much benefit to the Congress(I).

The Congress(I) leadership is also taking steps to contain the simmering rebellion among some of its party leaders in Orissa. The PCC(I) chief, Mr. Janaki Ballab Patnaik, has been asked to ``pacify'' leaders such as the State Ministers, Mr. K. C. Lenka and Mr. Raghunath Patnaik. The latter has threatened to resign since he has been denied the ticket, while Mr. Lenka has shot off a letter to the Congress(I) president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, asking for disciplinary action against members of a rival group who, he alleged, had already started working against him in his constituency.

Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr. Anil Shastri, office-bearers in- charge of the State, are in touch with disgruntled leaders. Mr. Shastri is scheduled to go to Bhubaneswar tomorrow.

In another twist, the Congress(I) has decided to leave a seat for the Orissa JD(U) president, Mr. Narsingha Mishra, who has dissociated himself from ``the BJP and its allies''.

The Congress(I)'s central election committee met today and was said to be well into the process of finalising candidates for Haryana.

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