Sharad Joshi party in NDA now

NEW DELHI: The BJP''s got help in Vidarbha: On Friday, it persuaded Swatantra Bharat Paksh (SBP) president Sharad Joshi to join the NDA at the BJP office.
Joshi''s SBP represents farmers'' organisations in 14 states, including Maharashtra''s Shetkari Sangathan, UP''s Bharatiya Kisan Union and the south''s Ryot Sanghams.
He said his party had joined the NDA since the BJP had agreed to back its demand for a separate Vidarbha state carved out of Maharashtra, and the Shiv Sena had said it will include in its manifesto a commitment to make up for the financial/developmental backlog of Vidarbha for the last three years.
This is expected to cause some confusion in Congress ranks. The weak link for the party is Vidarbha where its leaders such as Ranjeet Deshmukh have been demanding a separate state.
BJP sources said that while SBP will not be given any LS seats, it will be given nine or 10 assembly seats when the state elections are announced.
These sources added that SBP had 40,000-odd votes in 10-12 LS constituencies in Maharashtra and could influence the polls in 30-40 assembly seats.