AHMEDABAD, Feb 2: Bowing to the demands of the majority of the 45-odd legislators of his Rashtriya Janata Party, Shankarsinh Vaghela did a volte-face today on electoral ties with the Congress and initiated efforts to enter into some sort of tie-up with the party. Vaghela had snapped off ties with the Congress after the party offered him nine of the 16 Lok Sabha seats. Vaghela had been insisting on 10 when the talks broke off. No concrete decision has been taken so far since Pranab Mukherjee, the AICC general secretary in charge of Gujarat, is in Assam. Gujarat PCC chief C D Patel and Congress Legislature Party leader Amarsinh Chaudhry have extended their stay in Delhi.The party leaders who have already prepared a list of candidates , are waiting for Mukherjee's return, after which a meeting will be held between them and Madhavsinh Solanki and Ahmed Patel.Chief Minister Dilip Parikh and Energy Minister Vipul Chaudhry were supposed to go to Delhi tonight as Vaghela's emissaries, but cancelled their visitafter being intimated that the Congress would be able to initiate a dialogue with them only tomorrow morning. Talks on the alliance, which were declared closed, re-opened today after former union minister and Congress leader B K Gadhvi - who had earlier played a vital role in brokering the deal between RJP and Congress - returned from Delhi.Because of his unflinching support to the alliance, Gadhvi has emerged as Vaghela's man in the Gujarat Congress set-up. In fact, at his press conference yesterday where he declared the snapping of ties with the Congress, Vaghela had stated that he would not field any candidate against his `Congress friend', who is seeking re-nomination from Banaskantha.On his return, Gadhvi was immediately contacted by Chief Minister Dilip Parikh and Energy Minister Vipul Chaudhry. Gadhvi then called up senior leaders in Delhi and tried to explain that the RJP was willing to do `some more adjustment'. He reportedly told the central leaders how the alliance would be beneficial toboth the RJP and the Congress as it would reduce the threat of the BJP.When contacted, Ahmed Patel admitted that a fresh proposal for the alliance had come from the RJP's side today. So long a critic of the alliance plans, Patel today said, ``My party is ready for any decision that is in its larger interest''.Senior Congress leaders in Delhi claimed that the RJP had conveyed its desire to continue the alliance and was ready to accept nine parliamentary seats. The RJP has offered that not only would it not disturb the sitting Congress MLAs ), it would not field its candidates in constituencies where senior Congress leaders were keen to contest. A few `friendly' contests could take place, but only after discussions with the Congress, they reportedly said.From their end, the Congress, which also realises it has better prospects with the alliance, is also now willing to be more accommodating.
