NEW DELHI, 20 January — The seat-sharing exercise between the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance allies in Uttar Pradesh has created more tension than expected. BJP is reportedly not ready to accommodate its allies by sacrificing seats which it thinks it has a better chance of winning in UP.
Seeing the BJP mood, the NDA leaders have been approaching the prime minister to intervene on their behalf. Vajpayee, the NDA leaders hope, will put pressure on the state leadership of his party to concede more seats to their coalition partners. The battle has intensified with the BJP yesterday announcing candidates for as many as 309 seats in the 403-member UP Assembly.
The BJP feels that the allies have an exaggerated notion of their support base in UP, and there was no way the party could concede so many seats and end up losing them.
On the other hand, the NDA partners know that a considerably weakened BJP in UP will have its impact on the national political scene and may even affect the stability of the Vajpayee government. So the BJP, according the thinking of its allies, badly needs them. And they intend to exploit this to their advantage. The President of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Ajit Singh, yesterday met the prime minister and is said to have complained that his party was not being treated fairly so far as sharing of seats is concerned. Vajpayee has asked the state BJP leaders to view the demands of RLD sympathetically and try to accommodate them, said RLD sources.
Another senior NDA leader and President of Lok Janshakti Party, Ram Vilas Paswan is also feeling hurt at the treatment he has received at the hands of the UP BJP leaders.
Paswan somehow is not seen to command enough support in UP. The BJP, consequently, is not prepared to consider his claims beyond a point. BJP insiders said the party was not ready to bend backward to please Paswan. The BJP will reportedly give only 5 to 7 seats to the Dalit leader.
Shakti Dal of Ms. Meneka Gandhi is also said to be unhappy with the BJP. BJP is ready to concede only three seats for Meneka’s party against their insistence on 14.
The Samata Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Janata Dal (United) have decided to wait a day or two before coming out with their parties lists. Reports suggest that the number of seats offered by the BJP to them falls far short of their expectations.
