Nitish, Lalu, Gandhi to address Swabhiman rally in Patna

Leaders of the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress Party - Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav and Sonia Gandhi - will address a Swabhiman Rally organized by the Mahagatbhandan alliance of the Janata Parivar here on Sunday.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who heads the Janata Parivar, has said that he will not attend a rally, and will be represented by his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav.

Bihar SP President Ramchandra Singh Yadav said that a decision to this effect was taken after a telephonic conversation between Mulayam and Lalu Yadav yesterday.

Lalu Yadav has announced that the Samajwadi Party will contest five seats in the Bihar Assembly polls.

He said, the alliance has decided to give three seats earlier allotted to NCP and two from RJD quota to SP.

Meanwhile, BJP and its Bihar allies will meet on Monday to thrash out a deal over seat-sharing for the state assembly polls.

BJP General Secretary and Bihar in-charge Bhupender Yadav said that the party chief Amit Shah will chair the meeting.

Lok Jan Shakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) Chief Upendra Kushwaha and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi are likely to attend the meeting.