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RJD-BSP announce poll tie-up

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Kanshi Ram announced yesterday that his party would enter into an electoral alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal for the general election.

Kanshi Ram made the announcement after a two-hour meeting with RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav. The BSP, he said, would contest the seats offered by the RJD in Bihar, but the details are yet to be worked out.

Yadav said he proposed to hold a meeting of like-minded secular parties including the BSP, the Congress, the Lok Shakthi and the Samajwadi Janata Party on December 20. He plans to enter into seat adjustments with these parties.

Meanwhile, BSP vice-president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati today declared that her party was firm on contesting all the 85 Lok Sabha seats from the state, regardless of the understanding reached with Laloo Yadav.

She said Kanshi Ram had made it clear to Laloo Yadav that there would be no seat-sharing in UP as the BSP felt it was strong enough to fight the communal forces in the state on its own.

Mayawati said the BSP was interested in multi-cornered contests to defeat the BJP and isolate the Samajwadi Party. Her party had rejected all the proposals from the Congress and Ajit Singh's Bharatiya Kisan Kamgar Party for forging alliances in the state.

UNI

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