CPI’s Raja holds parleys with Tejas amid stalemate

Patna:CPI general secretary D Raja on Tuesday arrived in Patna for a courtesy meeting with RJD leader and Grand Alliance coordination committee chairman Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to break the deadlock over his party’s demand for a “reasonable number” of assembly seats, more than the six allotted in 2020.“Raja and Tejashwi held discussions in a cordial atmosphere on the seat-sharing issue,” a state CPI communique said.The state CPI, which won two of six seats in 2020, has staked its claim on 24 seats this time. Party sources said the coordination committee led by Tejashwi is asking them to stick to six seats. On Monday, a CPI delegation presented the party’s seat-wise case but no breakthrough was achieved.“The informal stand of the coordination committee, or of Tejashwi, is that the 29 assembly seats contested by CPI, CPM and CPI(ML) in 2020 will not be reduced, nor will their combined share be increased,” a source said.

The CPI(ML) had 19 seats, CPI six and CPM four in 2020.The stalemate is also linked to VIP chief Mukesh Sahani’s insistence on retaining 60 seats and Congress’s unease over its probable 55-seat share. In 2020, Congress contested 70 seats, while Sahani briefly aligned with the BJP, contesting 11 seats.The hope is that Raja’s mediation may secure an increase in the Left parties’ allocation before the first phase of polling on Nov 6.