Cong, Laloo sulk after pact

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: The Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) poll pact for Bihar was reworked for the umpteenth time today and the Congress...

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: The Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) poll pact for Bihar was reworked for the umpteenth time today and the Congress share went up by one, to 14. But it still left both sides unhappy with ample indications of “friendly contests” on many seats, an euphemism for rivals aiming to undercut each other despite the alliance.

RJD chief Laloo Yadav’s delayed announcement, which was put off by 24 hours following Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s request yesterday for more seats, came today in Patna in which he listed the constituencies each party in the alliance would fight: RJD in 34, Congress in 14, CPI in three, CPM in two and the MCC in one.

However, Congress unhappiness showed in its official reaction when party spokesperson Kapil Sibal insisted that talks were still on and that a final decision was yet to be taken. The CPI too took a similar line and is slated to make its view known on August 23 after a meeting of its leaders (the Left party is upset over its quota of three, down fromthe eight it sought). Also, the Congress has got just three of the seats it wanted, the others going to the RJD and the Left.

Like Bhagalpur, which Bihar Congress chief Sadanand Singh wanted to contest from. Singh, who is still lobbying for an end to the poll pact with Laloo, will now probably fight from Giridh, considered tough for the Congress. The party has also lost out on Barh, which is in the RJD quota, and Godda which has gone to the CPI. However, CLP leader Ramashrey Prasad Singh gets his choice of Koderma which is being seen as an attempt by Laloo to soften Singh’s opposition to the deal.

But the more important question of “friendly contests” is only now beginning to take serious shape with several Bihar Congressmen bent on entering the electoral fray though it would be minus the support of fellow secular parties. Which is what is bothering Laloo who feels he hasn’t got much out of the alliance after having worked hard for it. The Bihar deal is Laloo’s baby with the Congress and the Left havingno scope for dictating terms. Till the last minute, none of the other parties knew what they were in for and the CPI, in particular, was taken aback to see its quota slashed even more.

Till yesterday, the CPI was slated to contest in four seats but in the reworked deal their share is three. Worst affected, though, is the Congress which is dealing with three perceptions in the party. The extreme position is that the party should go solo and contest on all 54 seats, a prescription for disaster. The moderates feel the deal with Laloo is the best way out as it could help the Congress improve its 1998 tally of five. The third view is that the party must fight on at least 22 seats, a line propagated by many Bihar leaders.

In the end, 14 is what they will have to live with. The uneasiness between the RJD and the Congress was quite apparent when no Congress leader was with Laloo when he announced the pact in Patna. And this after Laloo agreed to Sonia’s request, delayed the announcement and increased theCongress quota by one.