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NDA close to breaking deadlock over Bihar seats

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The deadlock in the National Democratic Alliance over the seat-sharing arrangements for the assembly election in Bihar is likely to be broken soon with the BJP agreeing to contest 160 of the 324 seats, the Samata Party a maximum of 120, and the Janata Dal (United) a maximum of 40, according to top BJP sources.

The sources told rediff.com that "this is the general agreement among these three NDA constituents. But it has not yet been sewn up because while the BJP wants that the 10-12 seats for other allies, the Jharkhand People's Party and Bihar People's Party, should not be given from its quota.

Efforts were on last morning to persuade both the Samata Party and the JD-U to reduce their demands by about five seats each, thus enabling the JPP and BPP to contest 10-12 seats together. "In the given circumstances and after taking into consideration all the ground realities and the strengths of each player in Bihar belonging to the NDA, we have arrived at this conclusion," the sources said. "We have reason to believe that the players concerned know that this is the best deal and being obstinate will only aggravate the situation without breaking the impasse."

Senior BJP vice-president Jagdish Prasad Mathur, meanwhile, pooh-poohed the suggestion that some Samata Party politicians like Nitish Kumar would raise the banner of revolt and quit the NDA if his party's demand for adequate seats is not met. "While we are aware of the sensibilities of our coalition partners, we cannot accede to unreasonableness without rhyme or reason," Mathur asserted.

"As far as the BJP is concerned, our position has categorically been spelt out and we are hopeful of breaking the impasse very soon," he said.

The newly appointed Samata Party chief, Jaya Jaitley, who assumed charge after the Election Commission derecognised her predecessor George Fernandes and nine party MPs as office-bearers, also indicated that the deadlock would be broken soon. "Just hold your horses," she said, but declined to give any figures.

Jaitley agreed that she now has a ponderous responsibility as president, "but I have many senior colleagues to help me out". She said the Samata Party's clout in Bihar is well-known and "this is a reality that cannot be ignored by anybody".

She indicated that her party's confabulations with the BJP over the seats was often stormy, but "all's well that ends well", she added.

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