The Hindu : RJD, Cong. working out seat adjustments

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2003

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National

RJD, Cong. working out seat adjustments

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI. NOV 11. With ticket distribution in the final stages, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress are actively engaged in working out a seat-sharing arrangement for Assembly elections.

The RJD headed by Laloo Prasad Yadav is the only party with which the Congress is contemplating a formal tie-up in the Assembly elections to the five States.

Sources said the RJD had asked for four seats in Rajasthan's Yadav-dominated areas and a couple of seats in Delhi where the migrant population especially from Mr. Yadav's catchment area, Bihar, has increased exponentially. The Congress is a part of the RJD-led coalition Government in Bihar and Mr. Yadav is the only non-Congress leader to have openly endorsed Sonia Gandhi's claims to Prime Ministership. The RJD chief has chosen to break ranks with his colleagues of the former Third Front by making it clear that an alternative arrangement to the BJP-led coalition at the Centre is inconceivable without the Congress. The bonhomie between the two leaders received a further impetus with Mr. Yadav offering to campaign actively for the Congress in the Assembly elections. He is a big draw during elections especially in areas that have a substantial presence of minorities, members of the backward communities and indigent people.

The seats that the RJD has asked for in Delhi are mainly in the trans-Yamuna area of the city, where the bulk of the migrant labour from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh is based. The BJP MP from the trans-Yamuna area, home to one-third of Delhi's population, traces his roots to eastern UP, which shares several cultural characteristics with a large portion of Bihar.

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