Sharad-faction of JD(U) to fight in seven seats with 'auto' symbol

NEW DELHI: The Sharad Yadav-led faction of the JD(U) will contest in six to seven under the 'autorickshaw' symbol.

While an announcement about the seat sharing arrangement is likely to made by the Congress soon, a source said the candidates will contest mainly in the tribal-dominated constituencies where sitting MLA and Yadav-faction president Chotubhai Vasava has considerable clout.

The Nitish Kumar-led party, which the Election Commission on Friday recognised as "the real" JD(U), is contesting around 12 seats in the state and will fight against the BJP, its alliance partner in Bihar.

It will be a show of strength by both factions as the JD(U) has fielded candidates in tribal areas where Vasava, who voted in favour of the Congress's Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls ignoring Nitish's directions, has a considerable following.

Nitish and Yadav had parted ways after the Bihar chief minister decided to join hands with the BJP in July.

While the Yadav faction does not see any impact of Nitish's candidates, it could lead to a splitting of votes in the socialist bloc.

Another source said the Congress has also reached an understanding with Sharad Pawar's NCP and they would get a couple of seats.

The Congress is still upset with the NCP over its MLA voting against Patel and may not accede to all its demands.

Senior Congress leaders and Vasava were holding discussions for the past several days.

"Autorickshaw is our symbol. We will not fight on the Congress's symbol...We held talks with the Congress. They will now announce the seat-sharing arrangements," Yadav told reporters.

Yadav also said that the BJP will bite the dust in Gujarat and the party is trying to mislead people using reports by credit agencies like Moody's which does not understand the pains of the people.