NEW DELHI: The Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Bihar will set up a Commission to look into the socio-economic and educational backwardness of religious and linguistic minorities and grant them reservation benefits if voted to power.

The proposal is part of the Common Minimum Programme drafted by the combine for the October-November Assembly polls, which was finalised by leaders of the three parties here on Saturday.

The programme will be pro-poor, pro-Dalit, pro-farmer and pro-minorities. It would look into the socio-economic and educational backwardness of religious and linguistic minorities and provide them reservation, leaders associated with drafting of the CMP said.

The draft programme was finalised here at a meeting of Digvijay Singh and Iqbal Singh (Congress), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) and Tariq Anwar (NCP). The draft will be sent to the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai, who is in charge of party affairs in the State, told The Hindu that the party was yet to receive a copy of the programme.

The Congress central election committee on Saturday began finalising its candidates' list. The names would be released in Patna on Tuesday, Mr. Digvijay Singh said.

Meanwhile, the poll understanding between the the CPI and the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation hit a rough patch over accommodating the LJP in Bihar.

The dispute arose after the CPI(ML) objected to the decision of the CPI and other Left parties to join joining hands with Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan. It is learnt understood that both the CPI(ML) and the LJP have staked claim to on some seats and neither of them are willing to withdraw their demands

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