New Delhi, The allies of the NDA are creating trouble for the BJP that leads the opposition coalition by staking claim on the seats either currently held by the party or where it stood second in the previous Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP president Rajnath Singh has constituted a three-member group headed by former minister Anant Kumar to facilitate smooth seat-sharing arrangement with the partners. The allies of the BJP like JD (U), Akali Dal and RLD have altogether staked claim on at least 45 seats, which is either presently held by the BJP or where it stood second.

The committee held its first meeting on Tuesday at the residence of its chairman and decided to start seat-sharing talks with the allies. The first round of talks would begin with a meeting with JD (U) president Sharad Yadav who has cautioned the BJP not to identify any seats in Bihar as the JD (U) would select the seats first where it intends to field its candidates.

JD (U) has created another problem for the BJP by asking five seats in Rajasthan. Of the five three are currently held by the BJP and in the remaining two it stood second. Similarly, Akali Dal has also announced to put up its candidates in two seats held by the BJP and one of them is Gurdaspur from actor-turned politician Vinod Khanna has been elected twice.

The relations between the BJP and Akali Dal were soured following clashes between the workers of the two parties. Normalcy could only be restored after the intervention by the central leadership of the BJP. At one stage the Punjab unit of the BJP has threatened to severe ties with Akalis.

The BJP president has also entrusted the newly formed group with the task of assessing party's electoral prospects in three states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh presently ruled by the BJP. Former party president M Venkiah Naidu and former union minister Arun Jaitley are other members of the group.

The group has been asked to submit its report to the party president within a fortnight. Meanwhile, the party high command has summoned the party chief from MP, UP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to seek their assessment of the situation.

In Uttar Pradesh BJP is currently engaged in talks with the RLD of Ajit Singh. The principle opposition that has been reduced from number one to number three in the state is very keen to forge an alliance with RLD as the party has pinned its prospects in the western part of the state, where RLD is a force to reckon with. In the eastern and central parts of the state BJP has lost hopes to make inroads.

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