BHUBANESWAR, Jan 2: The Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has decided to contest a majority of the seats in the coming elections to the Lok Sabha.This was decided at a meeting of the PAC held last night at Naveen Nivas. Highly placed sources in the BJD said that the party will demand 12 to 13 seats out of the total 21 seats in Orissa leaving the rest for its ally, the BJP.
Several seats including Kalahandi, Bolangir, Sambalpur, Cuttack and Puri have already become disputed as both the alliance partners are laying claim to them.
Highly placed sources in the BJD also revealed that Kalahandi and Sambalpur seats figured prominently during discussions. The name of the SJP leader and former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das was considered for this seat. The BJD is obviously trying to woo Das from the Congress by offering him the Kalahandi seat.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
