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BJD, NCP reach agreement in Orissa

Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Janata Dal and the Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday entered into a seat sharing arrangement to contest the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Orissa.

Senior leaders of the parties said they had meaningful discussions, and the number of seats which the NCP would contest would be made public in a couple of days.

Those who participated in the final round of talks include Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik and Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra from the BJD and Union Minister Praful Patel and senior leader D.P. Tripathi from the NCP.

“It has been a meaningful and good discussion about seat adjustment, and we will be fighting the coming elections jointly,” Mr. Patel told journalists after the meeting at Mr. Patnaik’s residence.

Mr. Tripathi had been camping in the city for the past three days to hold initial talks and a final agreement on seat sharing was reached after Mr. Patel arrived here on Saturday.

Two NCP legislators voted in favour of the Chief Minister during the trust vote in the Assembly on March 11.

Meanwhile, the BJD started formal discussions with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India for sharing of some Lok Sabha and Assembly seats. The BJD and the two Left parties are likely to reach an agreement on seat sharing by Sunday.

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