PM brokers BJP-JDU agreement

Under the agreement signed by JD U leaders George Fernandes and Ram Vilas Paswan, and BJP vice-president Kailashpati Mishra, the BJP will contest 29 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and the JD U the remaining 25. In Karnataka, which had become the bone of contention between the two parties, the JD U agreed to contest 95 Assembly seats and the BJP the rest of the 129 seats. The BJP will contest 18 Lok Sabha seats and the JD U 10.

But the BJP is yet to admit the JD U into the NDA. Answering a volley of questions on the issue, BJP leader K N Govindacharya maintained that the issue of the JD U joining the NDA was not discussed. He said since the actual merger of the Lok Shakti and the Samata Party in the JD U had not taken place, the matter would be sorted out after the elections.

8220;In spirit the JD U is very much part of the NDA but the technicalities will have to be worked out,8221; he said, pointing out that the JD U had agreed to contest the elections under Vajpayee8217;s leadership.

Earlier in the afternoon, JD U leaders Digvijay Singh and Jaya Jaitley also announced the seat-sharing pact. They said the two parties had also agreed to contest elections together in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur and Lakshadweep but the details of the seats to be shared were yet to be worked out.

The JD U8217;s demand in UP was for four seats, including the two that were contested by the Samata Party in alliance with the BJP in the last elections. In Bihar, Singh said the JD U would contest the Siwan, Sitamarhi and Ballia seats in addition to the 22 that the Samata Party had contested in 1998.

Yesterday, the seat-sharing talks had turned rough with the BJP not willing to concede more than 70 Assembly seats to the JD U in Karnataka. An angry Ramakrishna Hegde had flown back to Bangalore, directing the State JD U to get ready to file nominations for all the 224 seats.

By the time Hegde reached Bangalore, the BJP8217;s state unit yielded some more ground and told party chief Kushabhau Thakre that it would part with 90 seats. But communicating this to Hegde became a problem as he had joined an official G-15 dinner immediately after landing in Bangalore.

When the message finally reached Hegde, he turned down the offer. It was now the Prime Minister8217;s turn to try and placate him. Vajpayee told Fernandes that the BJP was willing to part with another five seats. Hegde, though unhappy because he wanted no less than 112, concurred following pressure from his confidants who felt that this was the most honourable way out.

It was after this that Fernandes, Paswan and Kailashpati Mishra proceeded to the Defence Minister8217;s residence where the agreement was inked.

For the record both parties indulged in shows of bravado yesterday by saying they would contest the elections on their own. But the compulsions of the situation on the ground forced them to come to a compromise. Both the BJP and the JD U had approached the seat-sharing talks with the realisation that if they do not come together, it would be a three-legged race in Karnataka with the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal Secular bringing up a lame fourth. This would have been of immense advantage to the Congress.

BJP sore on Sibal

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday expressed its strong displeasure over the Election Commission having engaged senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, official spokesman of the Congress, to appear before the Supreme Court in the case relating to allegations of government vehicles being used by some ministers in UP. In a letter sent to the EC, the BJP said 8220;it contradicts the impartiality and fairness of the Election Commission.8221;