NEW DELHI, NOV 1: The BJP and the Akali Dal (Badal) inched towards an agreement on seat sharing on Saturday when the former identified the seats from which the Akali Dal could choose to contest the elections.The BJP campaign committee chairman Vijay Malhotra said: ``We have offered the Akali Dal a choice of six seats from which they can pick any three. We will field our own Sikh candidates for the remaining seats.''Union Parliamentary and Tourism Minister Madan Lal Khurana is said to be working out the finer details and negotiating with the Akali Dal on behalf of the State BJP.The choice of seats that the BJP has offered the Akalis are - Rajouri Garden, Sabzi Mandi, Vishnu Garden, Jangpura, Geeta Colony and Gandhinagar.``They were demanding Kalkaji, Hari Nagar and Trilok Nagar, which we have refused. We have Purnima Sethi, Harkishen Singh Balli and O P Babbar from these constituencies. On our part, the meeting was conclusive. Now it is for them to decide,'' Malhotra said.Meanwhile the positiontaken by Delhi state Akali Dal president Avtar Singh Hit was more guarded: ``If they offer us just three seats, we will not accept. We want Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Vishnu Garden, Kalkaji and Jangpura. Out of these, the BJP has agreed to give only Vishnu Nagar and Jangpura. If we do not arrive at any conclusion, we will not contest the elections but only support them from outside.''However, a section of the Akali Dal is taking tougher stand with Onkar Singh Thapar, former president Delhi state Akali Dal, saying, ``The alliance is in danger, as we are being offered seats where BJP has always lost - Vishnu Garden, Rajouri Garden, Geeta Colony and Jangpura. These are Congress strongholds''.The BJP state leaders, on their part, tried to convince the Akalis that not more six seats can be given to the Sikh candidates, which includes their own candidates. ``We are unlikely to give them more than five or six seats which include the BJP seats for Sikh candidates,'' said Vijay Malhotra, chairman of the statecampaign committee.But Thapar retaliated by saying that, ``Harkishan Singh Balli is a BJP man. His seat should not be counted as an Akali seat. He can contest from anywhere. We should be given the Hari Nagar seat.''The Akali Dal is going by different statistics. ``The alliance will benefit the BJP, the 12 to 15 lakh Sikh votes cannot be taken for granted. But Khurana is not agreeing to vacate his seats for us. If they have won seats in certain areas, it is because of our votes,'' Thapar said.
