Before clash with BJP, 'secular' parties to fight for ‘easy’ seats in Bihar

NEW DELHI: The "secular" camp is likely to witness a tug of war for "Muslim" and "Yadav" constituencies, with concerns rife that Lalu Prasad wants to keep an overwhelming chunk of these seats to gain an upper hand in the end-year assembly elections in Bihar.
The RJD chief is said to have laid a veiled claim to the seats with high concentration of Muslims and Yadavs, raising concern in the Congress and JD(U) camps.

These seats are said to be the "most winnable" for the "secular" camp and would boost the tally of the party contesting them.

Sources said Lalu laying claim to these seats stems from his desire to strengthen his position in the post-poll scenario. Though he has accepted foe-turned-ally Nitish Kumar as CM candidate, the allies are apprehensive that the Yadav chieftain is preparing to call the shots after polls.

Highly-placed sources in the coalition said the strike rate of an ally would depend on their share of "winnable" seats. Around 40 seats are said to have between 30-65% Muslim population while seats with Yadav concentration are also in good numbers. "These seats have to be distributed equally among all," a source said.

Also, "tough" seats — "city" and "upper caste" turf - too have to be shared equally.

Preliminary indications are that seat-sharing talks may be a heated affair, with a hope that Lalu would be "reasonable".

The RJD chief is seen to be still not reconciled to a diluted political position after a court conviction pushed him out of electoral politics. He is also angry with Congress for forcing his hand on accepting Nitish as mascot.

Sources said if Lalu's primary objective is to stall BJP, he has to pre-empt any gains accruing from his actions to the rival camp.

He will have to quell doubts that he is playing for a different post-poll game than he indicated with Nitish's announcement as CM candidate, sources said.

At stake, sources said, is the reaction of upper castes and middle-classes. Nitish's projection is seen to have softened their anger against the "secular" coalition but fears about Lalu can see them vociferously backing the BJP coalition, which means a higher turnout.

The Congress calculation, shared by JD(U) and RJD, is that their success would depend on keeping the non-Mandal classes from polarizing in favour of the saffron camp.