<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%">Minor parties in the alliances have already started hinting at it and made it known that out of the box thinking is needed over the issue for the prestigious battle that has the potential to change the national scene dominated by Narendra <g data-gr-id="268">Modi-led</g> BJP for the past more than one year.<o:p></o:p>
<span data-style="line-height: 115%;">The talk in the Nitish Kumar-led alliance is that RJD chief Lalu Prasad is taking his own time to decide on seat sharing for the 243-member Assembly whatever may be the public posturing. RJD and JD(U) have to first firm up the seat allocation among themselves and later the share of minor players will be decided.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">Ally Congress' General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed said, "Congress would like honourable number of seats so that its cadres do not get demoralized." Ahmed is a former Bihar PCC Chief and had been a state Minister for long.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">Congress leaders say in private that Rahul Gandhi could go in for a tough bargain to avoid any raw deal to the party.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">Sharad Pawar's NCP also held its national convention in Patna last month to pitch for a secular alliance comprising the JD-U, RJD, Congress and NCP. BJP too is facing a challenging task.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, whose Rashtriya Lok Samata Party is part of the BJP-led NDA, has already suggested that the seat sharing formula during the Lok Sabha polls does not hold good for the coming Assembly polls. Kushwaha had been an ally of Nitish Kumar till a few years back.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">He has even suggested that BJP should contest on 102 seats it fought in alliance with JD(U) in the last assembly polls and that all partners spare seats proportionately for new allies.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">RLSP wants to contest 67 seats in the election, likely to be held in September-October this year.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">While Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP has been toeing a pro-BJP line on the way ahead in Bihar, seat-sharing remains a ticklish issue with former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi joining the alliance and Pappu Yadav too parting ways with Lalu Prasad.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">The smaller parties are sending home the message that if the dominant partners?BJP on one side and RJD and JD-U on the other failed to take everyone on board, they would be the ultimate loser.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">A senior Congress leader, who is part of a group of central leaders looking after Bihar, said that they were not just looking at numbers but wanted seats where the party had a good chance of winning.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <span data-style="line-height: 115%;">Citing an instance, the leader, who declined to be identified, said that in the Telangana <g data-gr-id="379">Assembly</g>
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"><g data-gr-id="379">polls</g> last year, Congress alliance with the <g data-gr-id="269">AIMIM</g> was not beneficial for the party as the Asaduddin Owaisi led party did not part with a single strong seat.<o:p></o:p>
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%"> <g data-gr-id="270">Lalu</g><span data-style="line-height: 115%;"> demands release<span data-style="line-height: 115%;"> of caste census data
<span data-style="line-height: 115%;">RJD president Lalu Prasad on Sunday demanded the release of caste census figures for Bihar and said he will take up the cause with a march to the Raj Bhawan on July 13. "The caste census was completed long back, but the central government is not releasing the figures under a planned conspiracy. The data should be released immediately. I will march to Raj Bhawan on July 13 to press for it," he said. Prasad was speaking to reporters at the 19th foundation day celebrations of RJD at its state headquarters here. He said the march will start from Kargil Chowk and he would go with the supporters to the Raj Bhawan to give a petition demanding <g data-gr-id="263">release</g><span data-style="line-height: 115%;"> of caste census figures. "Everybody has a right to know the population of his or her caste. People should also know what population of a particular caste is. We keep hearing many claims about caste-related numbers by many persons. The census figures will show the real numbers," Prasad said.
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%">BJP offers sops to voters ahead of council polls<o:p></o:p>
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%">Patna: Apparently sensing that the outcome of legislative council polls on July 7 may set the tone for the Assembly polls in Bihar later this year, the BJP on Sunday rained <g data-gr-id="273">sops</g>, including hikes in various allowances to representatives of three-tier <g data-gr-id="272">panchayati</g> raj institutions.<o:p></o:p>
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%">The NDA in the event of being elected to power in the Assembly polls will double monthly allowance for the ward members of gram panchayat to Rs 1000 from Rs 500 announced by the incumbent JD(U) government, former Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said in a statement.<o:p></o:p>
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%">In addition, the ward members will be entitled to a bicycle each and a handpump will be installed on their recommendation in the villages, he said.<o:p></o:p>
<span data-style="mso-bidi-font-size:9.5pt;line-height:115%">The monthly allowance for the ward members of the urban civil bodies too will be doubled from the amount announced by the present government, Modi said.<o:p></o:p>