Yechury meets JD(U) chief Yadav

On a day when the leaders of the recently cobbled Third Front were staging a show of unity by attending a dinner hosted by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury today met Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav.

The meeting, which according to JD(U) sources lasted 15 minutes, however set off speculations on whether the Left was poaching on this key constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

JD(U) general secretary Javed Raza told Business Standard that the meeting “was a courtesy call by Yechury”. He, however, said that in the pre-election scenario it was “fine if some leaders come to discuss the situation from their perspective”.

However, the meeting assumes significance in view of the recent tension between the JD(U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar, where they have a coalition government.

After protracted negotiations, the JD(U) and BJP have agreed to contest 26 and 15 Lok Sabha seats, respectively, in Bihar.

The negotiations had taken a toll on the relation between the two parties. According to BJP sources, the party’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani had to intervene to clinch the arrangement.

The two parties are still working out similar arrangements for Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.