LUCKNOW, May 3: Even though the modalities of the Lok Sabha elections are yet to be worked out, allies of the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh have started staking claim for their share of seats. Prominent allies, the Loktantrik Congress Party (LCP) and the Jantantrik BSP (JBSP) have claimed their right to contest from 25 constituencies in the state. ``Our party has largened its support base and we have identified seats from where our candidates can win. Winning is the sole criteria for the contestants,'' said JBSP chief Narendra Singh. The party had contested four seats in previous elections and won from Fatehpur. While the JBSP has demanded that its candidate contest 15 LS seats, the LCP has also decided to field its candidates in 10 seats, leaving only 60 for the BJP and the Samata Party in a total of 85 that UP sends to Parliament. The LCP chief also claimed that last time their party did not contest from anywhere owing to differences among party leaders but that they ``would take care thistime and try to ensure that our candidates win''.The newly-found confidence of Kalyan Singh's allies and their firmness in claiming their quota of LS seats stems, no doubt, from the fact that there has a major role of regional outfits in the survival of the Central government.``When the Government at the Centre can collapse because of one vote, why should not we attempt to win maximum seats to have the situation in our hands in the event of a hung Parliament again,'' argued an LCP leader. The confidence vote and its result has brought home this realisation to regional outfits like never before and they are bound to try and extract the maximum number of tickets during allotment. ``We are not firm that we will contest from 15 seats. This can be negotiated with the BJP but this is true that we will not settle for a small number of seats,'' said Narendra Singh. The BJP, meanhwile, is facing a tough time in allotment of tickets because both parties are no longer as accommodating. One reason for this is thatboth LCP and JBSP were fledgling outfits then. The decision that the JBSP would contest 15 seats was taken during the executive committee meeting of the outfit on Saturday in which the party members have made it clear to the leadership that they would not accept a compromise in any case. The meeting also decided to change the JBSP flag and a three-member committee has been formed to sort out issues with the Election Commission enabling the party to contest on its own. Previous elections were contested on the BJP symbol but this time they will try to get their own.The LCP has already been recognised by the Election Commission as a separate political entity while the same was denied to the JBSP because the case for their defection from the BSP was pending in the apex court. ``The decision has yet not come but this does not bound the Commission from allotting a separate symbol to us,'' claimed Singh.
