New Delhi, Oct 02: The crucial meeting of Samata Party to finalise its stand on the electoral adjustments with other parties for Gujarat Assembly elections has been put off to later this month. The national executive meeting, scheduled to be held on October 18, will now be held on October 29 while the two-day national council meeting will begin on October 30 instead of October 19. All the meetings will be held in Rajkot, party spokesman Shambhu Shrivastwa told a news agency today.

He said the dates had been changed to coincide with the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel on October 31, the day when top Samata Party leaders will address a rally at the end of the session. Samata Party has already ruled out any alliance with its NDA ally BJP and has identified 48 of the 182 seats in different parts of the state, particularly Saurashtra region, to field its candidates.

The stridency on the part of Samata Party also comes in the backdrop of its president and defence minister George Fernandes' recent reservations on the disinvestment issue. Bureau Report