Cong unhappy over Bihar seat sharing, wants more seats

New Delhi: The Congress is unhappy after the RJD and LJP sealed the deal on seat-sharing in Bihar, leaving just three seats for the congress to contest

Sources say the Congress has now decided to contest in 20 out of the 40 seats in the state.

"Three seats in Bihar is unacceptable to congress.Urgent matter will be taken up by the Congress with our allies. and we will ensure that cong gets sufficient number of seats in Bihar," says Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan.

Initially the Congress was demanding 16 seats, which was later scaled down to 6. In the end 3 was all what Lalus's RJD and Paswans LJP gave them.

RJD and LJP on Tuesday entered into a seat sharing deal under which Lalu Prasad's party will contest 25 seats and Ram Vilas Paswan's outfit 12.

"RJD and LJP have reached an agreement to fight the elections together in Bihar. RJD will contest in 25 and LJP in 12. We have left the remaining seats to Congress," RJD chief Lalu Prasad said at a joint press conference with LJP supremo Ram Vilas Paswan.

In the 2004 elections, RJD had contested 26 seats out of a total of 40 in Bihar while LJP had put up candidates in eight constituencies. The Congress had fought in 4 parliamentary segments and the remaining two were contested by NCP and CPI.

Prasad said they are with the Congress-led UPA and will remain so in the future. "We have nothing to do with the Third Front. Our aim is to defeat the communal forces," he said.

Expressing hope that UPA will repeat its 2004 performance, Paswan said they have decided to come together in the national interest.