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Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

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Congress-JMM decision unilateral: says Yechury

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA, JAN. 8. The CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, today described the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) seat-sharing pact in Jharkhand as ``unilateral.'' He said the party had initiated discussions with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on seat adjustments for the coming Bihar Assembly elections.

``Last night I had discussed the issue of seat-sharing with Mr. Yadav in New Delhi,'' Mr. Yechury told presspersons before the three-day CPI(M) Central Committee meeting. ``For now, the RJD has allotted three seats to us.''

Mr. Yechury, however, said the CPI (M) and other Left parties would continue to hold dialogue with both the Congress and the JMM for a working alliance. ``It (the Congress-JMM pact) is a unilateral agreement. We don't agree with this.''

He said the BJP-led alliance would not be able to retain its seats in the elections. ``They (NDA) are going to face two years of political drought. Next year, there will be elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam. They don't stand a chance in any of these States,'' he said.

The central committee, he said, would finalise the draft political resolution which would be adopted in the 18th party congress to be held in New Delhi in April.

The CPI (M) general secretary, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and Prakash Karat, Jyoti Basu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Anil Biswas, Biman Bose, all Polit Bureau members, would participate in the meeting.

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