VP Singh-led Pragatisheel Jana Morcha to contest 193 UP seats

New Delhi, Mar 15 (UNI) While keeping its door open for electoral adjustment with the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, former prime minister VP Singh-led Pragatisheel Jana Morcha today announced it would contest 193 seats out of 403 in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing a news conference along with Mr VP Singh and leaders of other Morcha constituents, Convenor Raj Babbar said here that talks with Rashtriya Lok Dal of Chaudhary Ajit Singh and the Congress were going on and he was hopeful about its outcome.

Short of saying that an understanding with RLD had been reached, he said ''we have to sort out matters just regarding five to six seats. We could not do it today as Mr Singh was out of station.'' Mr VP Singh's representatives were in dialogue with the Congress too, he added.

''Since elections would be held in seven phases, there was still time for the Congress, RLD and other parties to join in,'' he said.

While the main constituent Jana Morcha, which includes 18 Muslim bodies and five farmers unions, will field its candidates on 102 seats, Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Jan Shakti Party will contest 23 seats and Communist Party of India(CPI)17 seats.

A recently formed alliance of Muslim bodies, the United Democratic Front, has been given 30 seats and other Muslim organisations eight seats.

The Samajwadi Janata Party of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar will contest six seats, the National Loktantrik Party three seats and Rashtravadi Communist Party five seats.

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