BJP agrees to ties with JD U

Karnataka Chief Minister and JD U leader J H Patel confirmed that the quot;problem on the tie-up with the BJP has been solvedquot; after Fernandes and Hegde met Advani.

He said that the JD U had named a four-member team, comprising Karnataka JD U chief C Byre Gowda, Umesh Katti, Jeevaraj Alva and M Raghupathy, which will have talks on seat-sharing with the BJP leaders here on Saturday. State BJP leaders B SYediyurappa, Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar and party national secretary Basavaraj Patil Sedam have been summoned to the Capital by the BJP leadership.

8220;After the talks with the BJP our list of candidates will be finalised by Hegde and myself,8221; he told reporters.

Asked if the BJP had agreed to accept his party under the JD U name, Patel said: 8220;Yes.8221;

While the JD U camp was happy with the outcome of their leaders8217; talks with Advani, the BJP was still asserting that the issue was yet to be clinched. BJP general secretary in charge of Karnataka M Venkaiah Naidu said that the issue would be taken up by the party8217;s central election committee which would meet on Saturday.

quot;The CEC will decide 8230; the party is still discussing the matter,quot; he said, denying that seat-sharing talks were scheduled for Saturday. He added that the issue would not be decided without taking the State unit into confidence.

On Thursday, the JD U leaders had resolved to make one last attempt to persuade Advani toagree with the tie-up idea, failing which Fernandes and Hegde would hand in their resignations from their ministerial positions and take the Samata Party and the Lok Shakti out of the National Democratic Alliance NDA.

While the BJP was more than willing to do business with the JD U in Bihar, it had reservations about teaming up with that party in Karnataka. The long stalemate on the issue had also brought to the fore the differences between Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, who wanted the tie-up, and Advani.

But the softening of Advani8217;s stance on the issue was evident even before Fernandes and Hegde met him this afternoon. At a press conference, he said that the issue would be sorted out soon. quot;They Fernandes and Hegde are our valued colleagues and the perceptions among us would be sorted out soon and discussions are on,quot; he said.

Asked about the view that he was being considered the stumbling block for the JD U8217;s entry into the NDA while Vajpayee was in its favour, he said, 8220;It is very amusing forme. I have been hearing this for the past several months.8221;