Hours after when the 'Mahagathbandhan' announced that RJD would contest 19 of the 40 seats in Bihar, CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy Friday said that the Left parties had an understanding with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav who had assured them a place in the coalition, but wondered if the information was conveyed to his son and current leader of the RJD, Tejashwi Yadav. "We had an understanding with Lalu Prasad Yadav, but he is in jail. So, I don't know how things have been conveyed to his son. He had agreed for six seats including Begusarai and Madhubani," PTI quoted Reddy as saying. Adding that the RJD was "underestimating the strength" of the Left parties in Bihar, Reddy said that the failure of the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) to harbour the Left parties was "unfortunate" and did not bode well with the opposition. The party's state leadership will have a meeting on March 24 to decide on its course of action, Reddy said. Earlier in the day, the grand alliance announced that RJD would contest 19 of the 40 seats in Bihar, while nine will be fought by Congress. As Bihar opposition virtually shutting its doors on the Left, student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was being pushed or the Begusarai seat by the CPI, said, "This means we will have to go independently. We will contest in Bihar undoubtedly. A decision will be taken soon." Former JD(U) president and NDA convener Sharad Yadav will be contesting on an RJD symbol and merge his party Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) with it after the Lok Sabha polls, RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha and RJD state president Ram Chandra Purve told reporters in Patna.
