But the deal appears to have only ruffled feathers in the Congress, if what happened in the party headquarters today is any indication. Irate Bihar Congressmen, who have been on a protest dharna against the high command's ``capitulating'' to RJD chief Laloo Yadav, latched on to AICC general secretary Pranab Mukherjee as he entered 24, Akbar Road.

Mukherjee was party to yesterday's talks, in which the deal was concluded, along with AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel, CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and others. The Congress duo came armed with alibis for more than 20 seats, 24 to be precise, but Laloo was willing to concede only 13. And this only if the Congress and the CPM were willing to give Laloo some seats from their share in states outsideBihar. Like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

Apparently, this is the first time Laloo is looking beyond Bihar and is keen to replace the rump Janata Dal as a national party. Currently, the JD is one of the six national parties while the RJD is listed as regional outfit only. And since Laloo believes he is more powerful that any JD leader, he feels he must get his share of seats outside Bihar so he can fulfill the Election Commission's conditions to qualify as a national party.

Past negotiations had broken down on this point but yesterday, the sheer demands of time made the leaders agree on a hurriedly worked out compromise. The Bihar Congress workers didn't like Mukherjee and Patel agreeing to just 13 seats and they took it out on a hapless Mukherjee. The Rajya Sabha member, who is normally used to a little more respect, was taken aback as his party cadre rained blows on him. In the melee, he received a few blows on his face too as he scampered out of trouble.

Mukherjee rushed intothe safety of his room just before things got really nasty. The anger, though, is simmering and it is unclear to what extent the Congress may have to pay for agreeing to less than what they wanted. The party won five seats last time and has already announced nominees for four of them some days ago.

The Congress election committee is now slated to name eight other candidates, mostly from south and central Bihar, to complete its share of 13. The RJD, meanwhile, is yet to get any clear promise from the Congress or the Left on seat sharing outside Bihar. In the past, Laloo listed five states in which he wanted seats from the Congress but no deal has been worked out as yet.

The Left too is unwilling to cede any territory given the rising demands from its own constituents in the Left Front who are fighting over two seats in Kerala. In the coming days, Laloo may thus find that he too has lost more than what he gained, just like what the Bihar Congress feels at the moment.

The Congress high command has summonedBihar PCC chief Sadanand Singh and CLP leader Ramashrey Prasad Singh, both of whom are contenders for the seats in the Congress kitty, for peace talks. Among the names forwarded to the CEC by the BPCC are: Sadanand Singh (Bhagalpur), A A Karim (Katihar), Ramashrey Prasad Singh (Koderma), Shyam Sunder Dhiraj (Barh), Ajit Singh (Arrah), Shyama Sinha or her husband Nikhil Kumar (Aurangabad) and Furkhan Ahmed Ansari (Godda).

Most of them are likely to get the nod in the end. Laloo, though, may have to chew on the fact that he may still be only a regional party chieftain. At least for some more time.