It is not just the seat-sharing formula that the BJP needs to sort out with its alliance partner JD(U). The saffron party also has to convince the JD(U) that it did not keep the latter in the dark over the concluding point of the Janswabhiman yatras, which is Ayodhya.
It was learnt that JD(U) leaders, who participated when the yatras were launched in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, have decided to skip the concluding ceremony on November 17 when the entire BJP top brass is expected to be present. The JD(U) claims it was not informed earlier that the yatras will conclude in Ayodhya.
However, the BJP is still persuading its ally to participate when the yatras conclude.
The BJP had undertaken the Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 to gather support for Ram Mandir construction at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Two years later the Babri Masjid was demolished.
The JD(U), it was learnt, is apprehensive that its participation in the concluding ceremony might “hurt” its minority vote bank. The yatras — one headed by former party chief Rajnath Singh and the other by senior leader Kalraj Mishra — were launched on October 13. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav had attended the yatra when it had commenced from Mathura, led by Mr Singh. After the success it met during last year’s Bihar Assembly polls, when its minority vote bank also increased sizeably, the JD(U) is of the view that its presence at the ceremony might upset its prospective minority voter in the poll-bound state. When asked to comment on the JD(U)’s reluctance to attend the concluding function of the Janswabhiman yatras in Ayodhya, Mr Mishra said “there are no differences with the JD(U) either on a seat-sharing formula or the yatras concluding in Ayodhya. They (the JD-U) had attended (Janswabhiman yatra) and we are sure they have no such problem. It’s the BJP’s yatra, not the NDA’s.”
The JD(U) is yet to settle the issue of seat-sharing formula with the BJP.
While the JD(U) wants to contest 53 of the 403 Assembly constituencies, the BJP is reluctant to give more than 20.