Cong cries foul over Lalu-Paswan pact

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 10:03 pm

An angry Congress on Tuesday (March 17) rejected the seat-sharing deal announced by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bihar, saying the deal was “not acceptable” and it would contest “as many seats as possible”.

“We have decided to contest as many seats as possible. We will take a decision and come back to you in a day or two,” senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters. AICC secretary Iqbal Singh, in-charge of Bihar, said leaving three seats to Congress was not acceptable. Shinde, the in-charge of Central Screening Committee of Bihar said, “They have left just three seats. Our workers are in so much anger. We were ready with a list of eleven candidates.”

Asked whether this would lead to a division of secular votes in the state, Shinde said that Congress has been “very cooperative” from the beginning but somehow it has not clicked. Shinde said there is a lot of pressure on the party and “our workers are saying we should contest as many seats as possible. We have to keep the sentiments of our workers in mind. How can we show our face to them if we do not contest more seats.”

Ending days of wrangling, RJD and LJP on Tuesday entered into a seat sharing deal under which Lalu Prasad’s party will contest 25 seats and Ram Vilas Paswan’s outfit 12, leaving the remaining paltry three constituencies to Congress in Bihar. “RJD and LJP have reached an agreement to fight the elections together in Bihar. RJD will contest in 25 and LJP in 12. We have left the remaining seats to Congress,” RJD Chief Lalu Prasad said at a joint press conference with LJP supremo Ram Vilas Paswan. (Read more)

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Cong cries foul over Lalu-Paswan pact

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