JD-U, RJD agree on Bihar poll tie-up

New Delhi, After weeks of sparring, the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar and Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal today decided to contest the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state as allies. A six-member committee, comprising three members from each side, will be constituted to hammer out a seat-sharing formula.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, while emerging from a two-hour meeting of Janata Parivar’s senior leaders — including Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Lalu — said: “The JD-U and RJD will contest the Bihar elections in alliance.”
Sticking points, however, remain in the process of Janata Parivar’s planned merger with the two sides staying firm on using their respective party symbols during the elections. The merger of splinter parties of the Janata Parivar “will happen only after the Bihar elections”, he said.
On tussle over chief ministerial candidate, the SP leader said today’s meeting was centred around sharing of seats. “The issue of chief ministerial candidate will be sorted out later. There is no tussle over this,” he told reporters.
The meeting was convened by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence to broker peace between the two parties ahead of the Bihar polls. He is the president of Janata Parivar’s new party, which is yet to be named. JD-U president Sharad Yadav also attended the meeting.
In spite of the optimism displayed by Ram Gopal, unease still remains between Parivar’s dominant members.
The JD-U has been rooting for projection of Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate, a demand Lalu has rejected. Even on seat-sharing, the two parties do not seem to be on the same page. Kumar wants the formula to be based on 2010 Assembly election results. The RJD wants results of the 2014 general election as the benchmark.
This was the first meeting between Kumar and Lalu after weeks of wrangling between them and key leaders of their parties.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Kumar met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for an hour. Lalu is likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi tomorrow.