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PM intervenes to remove JD (U)-BJP differences on seat sharing
New Delhi, Feb 25: In an apparent bid to iron out differences between JD(U) and its NDA partner BJP over seat sharing in the Lok Sabha elections, a high-level meeting was on Wednesday convened by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his residence.
New Delhi, Feb 25:
In an apparent bid to iron out differences between JD(U) and its NDA partner BJP over seat sharing in the Lok Sabha elections, a high-level meeting was on Wednesday convened by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his residence.
JD(U) has some presence mainly in Bihar and Karnataka.
The meeting was attended by Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, JD(U) chief and NDA convenor George Fernandes and his senior party leaders Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar.
After the hour-long meeting, Yadav, who is JD (U) parliamentary board chairman, told reporters that the preliminary meeting was held in a "cordial atmosphere" and BJP authorised its senior leaders Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley to work out the nitty-gritty of seat sharing with JD (U). He, however, said there was no difference between JD(U) and BJP on the issue of seat sharing.
Yadav said Fernandes will name the party leader who will be involved in the seat sharing talks with BJP.
He said a joint meeting of leaders of JD (U) and BJP will be held at Patna on March 3 to identify the seats both parties wanted to contest in Bihar.
According to sources, JD(U) was keen on contesting about 25 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats left in Bihar after its bifurcation. But this was not acceptable to state BJP leaders leading to differences between the two parties.
JD(U) also intends to contest some 20 more seats in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and these seats are likely to be discussed at a separate meeting between JD(U) and other NDA constituents. Bureau Report
The meeting was attended by Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, JD(U) chief and NDA convenor George Fernandes and his senior party leaders Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar.
After the hour-long meeting, Yadav, who is JD (U) parliamentary board chairman, told reporters that the preliminary meeting was held in a "cordial atmosphere" and BJP authorised its senior leaders Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley to work out the nitty-gritty of seat sharing with JD (U). He, however, said there was no difference between JD(U) and BJP on the issue of seat sharing.
Yadav said Fernandes will name the party leader who will be involved in the seat sharing talks with BJP.
He said a joint meeting of leaders of JD (U) and BJP will be held at Patna on March 3 to identify the seats both parties wanted to contest in Bihar.
According to sources, JD(U) was keen on contesting about 25 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats left in Bihar after its bifurcation. But this was not acceptable to state BJP leaders leading to differences between the two parties.
JD(U) also intends to contest some 20 more seats in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and these seats are likely to be discussed at a separate meeting between JD(U) and other NDA constituents. Bureau Report