Cong rules out seat adjustment with BSP

JAIPUR, Oct 29: The Congress will field nominees for all the 320 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh without leaving any seat for the Bahuja...

JAIPUR, Oct 29: The Congress will field nominees for all the 320 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh without leaving any seat for the Bahujan Samaj Party, Chief Minister Digvijay Singh declared here today.

Singh, who was on his way back to Delhi along with several other Congress leaders after offering a chadar on behalf of Sonia Gandhi at the dargah of Moinuddin Chishti, told mediapersons during a halt at the Sanganer airport here that BSP president Kanshi Ram had taken a unilateral decision to field his candidates only in those constituencies where they had good prospects. This was intended to avoid a division of votes which could boost the BJP8217;s chances of victory. The Congress, on its part, had not entered into any seat-sharing arrangement with him, he added.

Rajasthan Congress president Ashok Gehlot, who accompanied Singh, announced that there would be no adjustment with the BSP in the desert state either. He said Kanshi Ram, who was now touring Rajasthan, had failed to make any impact and hispublic meetings had flopped. Even otherwise, his influence was on the wane. The people, according to Gehlot, were determined to overthrow the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government and he was sure that they would ignore both Kanshi Ram and Buta Singh.

Ahmed Patel said the key issue in the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mizoram was going to be the BJP misgovernance at the Centre. Price rise was going to cost the BJP dear, he said. The BJP, according to him, could not shield itself by blaming untimely rains for the phenomenon. The Central Government ought to have anticipated the impact of the rains and taken prompt steps to meet the situation.

Regarding tickets, he said the Congress would formulate its lists by November 2. As for the projection of chief ministerial candidates, Patel said there was no need to do so in the states where chief ministers were already in place. Elsewhere, the matter had to be decided by the party leadership in consultation with legislators.