Himachal Vikas Congress chief Sukh Ram is negotiating with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for a seat-sharing arrangement in the Himachal Pradesh assembly election.

The HVC will side with the party that gives the maximum electoral benefit to it, party leader Anil Sharma said on Thursday.

He said Sukh Ram [his father] had recently met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Kishenchand Advani in this regard.

Sharma said, "There is nothing wrong in talking to these parties because after all, the welfare of the voter [and HVC supporter] is paramount to us."

He said he had met BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu and his colleague Arun Jaitley and given them a list of 23 assembly seats [out of 68] where an understanding could be arrived at.

Sukh Ram had given a list of 18 seats to Congress leaders Motilal Vora, Mohsina Kidwai and Ahmed Patel, he said.

Sharma said he would be satisfied even if 12 or 13 seats are shared, adding that most of them are in Sukh Ram's Mandi parliamentary constituency.

He said the Janata Dal-Secular and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party are also in touch with the HVC for electoral tie-ups.