National
Paswan's party to contest 21 seats in U.P.
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, JAN. 23. Discord over seat-sharing for next month's U.P. Assembly elections among the allies of the BJP came out in the open today, with the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ram Vilas Paswan announcing its decision to field 13 candidates over and above the eight seats it got under the pact.
The party said it would have `friendly contests' in seven constituencies, including two which went to Ajit Singh's Lok Dal, and also field candidates for six other seats which were in the BJP's quota of 318.
The contradiction of being part of the NDA in Uttar Pradesh and coming in direct confrontation with the BJP/allies in six constituencies was not seen by the Lok Janshakti Party vice- president, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri. At a press conference, he said, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had promised Mr. Paswan that the BJP would accommodate three sitting Lok Janshakti Party MLAs but it was not kept.
He said that if the BJP conceded three constituencies - Dhuripar, Khalilabad and Bidki - where the LJP announced the candidatures of Markandeya Chand, Ram Asre Paswan and Rajinder Patel, Ministers in the outgoing U.P. Government, the party would withdraw the candidates from the three other constituencies.
The LJP also decided to field candidates in all constituencies in Punjab (117) and Uttaranchal (70). He said, Mr. Paswan would campaign in all these States from February 1 with the overall objective of ensuring the victory of NDA candidates and the formation of its Government in the State.
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