BJP to renominate its Delhi MPs
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 5
The General Secretary of the BJP, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said all six sitting BJP MPs in Delhi would be renominated but the same could not be said of the MPs in the rest of the country.

“We have decided to renominate all sitting MPs from Delhi though this may not be so at the all-India level where some are likely to be dropped,” he said after a meeting of the party’s Delhi Pradesh Election Committee.

Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats. In the case of Sadar Lok Sabha constituency from where Rajasthan Governor Madan Lal Khurana had won in 1999 elections, the party has to look for a new candidate, Mr Naqvi said.

Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel, who was elected from Chandni Chowk in the last elections, is said to be keen on shifting to Sadar.

CPM in spot over Laloo’s ultimatum
Subhrangshu Gupta

Kolkata, March 5
CPM leadership held a hurriedly summoned meeting at Alimuddin Street this evening in view of an ultimatum by the RJD chief, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, on the seat sharing among themselves in the coming Lok Sabha poll. Mr Jyoti Basu was also present there.

Mr Yadav, who had initially agreed to withdraw his candidate in Bhagalpur, Bihar, in favour of the sitting CPM MP, has given an ultimatum to the CPM leadership that the RJD would field its candidate at Bhagalpur if Kolkata NW seat was not left for the RJD.

Both Mr Basu and a CPM politburo member, Mr Sitaram Yechuri, earlier  agreed that they would allow the RJD to fight from Kolkata NW if Samastipur or Madhubani in Bihar was spared for the CPM candidate to which Mr Yadav agreed.

But now the RJD chief told the CPM that the RJD was only ready to exchange the Bhagalpur seat against Kolkata NW and there had been no talk of  either Samastipur or Madhubani seat.

A senior politburo leader said he was confident the CPM would win the Kolkata NW constituency in the wake of an inner rivalry in the Trinamool Congress which would lead to the division of the anti-Left votes there.

In the Kolkata NW constituency, both the sitting MP Sudip Bandopadhyya, who was denied TMC ticket, as well as the present party candidate, Kolkata Mayor Subrata Mukehrjee, will be fighting against each other which would help the CPM candidate in registering a win there, he argued.

But  Mr Jyoti Basu and some other leaders suggested that Mr Yadav be given Kolkata NW seat as they were convinced without his help, it would be difficult for the CPM to retain even the Bhagalpur seat in Bihar. Moreover, they could now also negotiate with the RJD chief on the Samastipur or Madubani seat.

The CPM’s Bihar unit also demanded that Kolkata NW seat be left for the RJD.