The Hindu : Laloo to discuss seat-sharing with Basu today

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Monday, Mar 01, 2004

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Laloo to discuss seat-sharing with Basu today

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, FEB. 29. The seat adjustment process in Bihar involving the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress, Lok Janshakti Party and the Left parties is expected to gain momentum in the next few days. Tomorrow, the Rashtriya Janata Dal president, Laloo Prasad Yadav, will meet the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, in Kolkata and come here the day after.

In Kolkata, the discussions with Mr. Basu would figure around who should contest the Kolkata North-West parliamentary seat.

The CPI (M) has indicated its willingness to leave the seat for the RJD in return for an additional seat in Bihar.

The RJD is eager to avoid a division in the anti-BJP vote in Bihar. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections it lost 23 seats in the State by less than 20,000 votes.

"Our strategy is to avoid a split in the secular votes. The only reason that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won so many seats from Bihar was because of the division in the votes," says a senior party leader.

The RJD was routed in the 1999 elections and ended up winning just seven of the 54 Lok Sabha seats from the then undivided Bihar.

Mr. Yadav lost the Madhepura parliamentary seat to arch rival Sharad Yadav.

This time around he is reportedly toying with the idea of contesting from two constituencies, Madhepura and Chapra.

The RJD leadership is, however, worried about the initial demands put forward by like-minded parties.

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