Likely crossover of three parliamentarians, one each from the BJP, LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) into the Congress is holding the party from taking a final decision on announcing the seats it would contest in alliance with RJD and other allies of the Grand Alliance (GA) in Bihar, senior Congress leaders involved in the decision making said on Thursday.

Congress and RJD, the two biggest parties in the GA, are still negotiating on the number of seats they would like to contest in the forthcoming parliamentary polls with Congress claiming minimum 12 seats.

The Lalu-led RJD is suggesting that it should contest 10, leave 20 for RJD and allow remaining 10 for distribution among other alliance partners.

Top Congress leaders said that the three MPs, BJP’s Shatrughan Sinha, LJP’s Mehboob Ali Qaiser and RLSP’s Arun Kumar Singh are in constant touch with the senior Congress leaders in Delhi, but they haven’t quit their parties yet.

With the Election Commission of India set to announce the poll dates anytime now, the trio has been communicated to take a call at the earliest.

Leaders close to the Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha said that he was in a fix as he had the options to choose between RJD and Congress.

With the BJP having decided to completely disassociate itself from the cine-star-turned politician by not inviting him to any of the party functions or rallies, Sinha had begun holding parleys with both Congress and RJD leaders.

However, since RJD has a problem of plenty when it comes to ticket aspirants, Sinha might not have his say in the party. And since he is determined to contest only from Patna Sahib, a seat having a dominant upper caste vote base, it might also be difficult for him to plough into this constituency of voters on a RJD symbol.

While Sinha had called on Lalu Prasad in Ranchi recently where the latter, insiders said, had apparently advised him to prefer joining Congress where he would have a greater say and would also become the party’s nationwide star campaigner. Moreover, Congress in Bihar faces dearth of winnable candidates and with Sinha joining them, they would fancy the chances with him as the party’s nominee.

Speaking to reporters in Patna on Thursday soon after meeting former Bihar chief minister and RJD leader Rabri Devi at her residence, Sinha reiterated he had neither quit BJP nor the party has removed him yet, but said he was considering giving a reply to the injustice and step motherly treatment being meted out to him by his party. “You will get to know my response soon,” he said.

Khagaria’s LJP MP Mehboob Ali Qaiser is a former Bihar Congress president, holding the office during the 2010 assembly polls. He enjoyed much clout and influence in the organization. He had quit the party just before the last parliamentary polls in 2014 after being denied ticket, but Congress leaders said he has remained connected with top Congress leaders.

In the changed political equations with JD (U) back in NDA fold and LJP assured of only six seats to contest, there are reports that BJP would claim the Khagaria seat for its OBC leader Samrat Choudhary, son of former MP Shakuni Choudhary, to strengthen its backward votes in the wake of Upendra Kushawaha’s recent exit. Qaiser could not be reached for his comments. Repeated calls to him went unanswered.

On whether Qaiser is planning defection, LJP spokesperson Ashraf Ansari responded diplomatically saying, “May or may not be.”

He, however, said that during the March 3 NDA’s Sankalp rally, both Qaiser and his son, Yusuf Salauddin, who is also a prominent LJP leader, had put large cutouts and banners across Patna welcoming Modi and visitors to the rally.

Jehanabad MP Dr Arun Kumar is already a rebel. After revolting against his party chief, Upendra Kushwaha, he and his supporters had announced to form a new political outfit, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party Secular while remaining a constituent of NDA in Bihar.

However, Congress leaders confirmed that he was in regular talks with top party leaders in Delhi till recently as there are strong possibilities that JD (U) might prefer fielding its own candidate from the seat.

“Disgruntled MPs often defect to the other side to have tickets for getting even with their parties. But such decisions for accommodating them are only taken by the party high command. Hence, I would not be able to comment much on the joining of the three disgruntled MPs,” said state Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha.

First Published: Mar 08, 2019 09:15 IST