Laloo grabs lion's share in Bihar anti-BJP alliance

The regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav has emerged the biggest gainer from the principal opposition Congress party's bid to put in place an opposition alliance since his party is all set to get the lion's share in the allocation of seats finalised for the key state of Bihar.

Laloo has virtually forced the Congress party and its allies to surrender before his whims with the Congress party agreeing to contest just two out of 40 Lok Sabha seats from the state, while its allies, namely the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will get seven and one seat respectively.

Laloo has also decided to set aside a seat each for the two Marxist parties. This now means that the RJD will end up contesting 29 seats.

An indication that all parties including the Congress have surrendered before Laloo's uncompromising attitude was available with the LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan saying talks on seat sharing deal have been finalised.

"The meal has been cooked. It only waits to be served now," Paswan told journalists at his residence in the middle of his party's national executive meeting.

Although details of what transpired at the LJP meeting was not available, it is understood that the party has agreed to contest seven seats being offered to it. Paswan had earlier said that his party will contest 12 seats it had identified from Bihar and that there will not be any compromise on it.

The LJP, which broke away from the Janata Dal (United) after the 1999 general elections, had only two lawmakers in the just dissolved Lok Sabha. The party may have emerged as a gainer, but its total capitulation to the Congress party working to oust the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) affected the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) power equation.

A formal announcement in this regard is expected to be made today.

Interestingly, if the ratio of seats contested and seats won is compared, the Congress party had fared better than the RJD in Bihar in the 1999 general elections. Compared to the Congress party that had contested four seats and won two, the RJD could win only eight out of 36 seats it had contested five years ago.

The Congress party's meek surrender may have prevented a split of anti-NDA votes in the state, but rebellion is in the open in the already battered party that is struggling for survival in two crucial northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which together elects 120 members to the Lok Sabha.

The Congress party had started by demanding 22 seats and had it whittled down to 15. Laloo, however, had rejected the Congress claim saying the party does not exist in Bihar and may draw a blank if it decides to contest on its own.

Political observers feel that Laloo's decision to accommodate the LJP at the Congress party's cost is a well-planned move. Given Paswan's stature as the top Dalit (lower caste) leader of Bihar, Laloo has tried to prevent the LJP from putting up its candidates on seats other than those allocated to it.

Since Laloo's vote bank mainly comprises backward castes and Paswan's lower castes, the combination of these votes may turn out to be decisive in the ultimate analysis.

On the other hand, it suits Laloo if some of the Congress leaders contest the upcoming polls as rebel candidates, which they may do, according to indications available.

Most of the Congress leaders in Bihar belong to upper castes and their presence in the fray as rebel candidates, Laloo feels, may shake the BJP's hold over upper caste voters of the state.