Ranchi, Dec. 12: The Janata Dal (United) today set the stage for a fresh confrontation with the BJP in Jharkhand by declaring that it would stake claim to 34 of the 81 Assembly seats up for grabs in next year?s election.

The announcement, made in Hazaribagh where the Dal (U)?s executive committee met during the day, is a setback to the peace process initiated by central leaders of the two parties, who have appealed to the state units to work in tandem in the larger interest of the NDA.

?We have identified 34 Assembly seats where our party can give a tough fight. This includes six Assembly segments where the BJP finished second in the Lok Sabha poll. We will tell the BJP that as they never succeeded in winning these seats, we should be given the opportunity to try our luck,? Dal (U) state unit chief Inder Singh Namdhari said over telephone from Hazaribagh.

The BJP has said it would like to contest at least ?70 per cent? of the seats, which works out to around 57. If the party sticks to its stand, it would leave its allies, the Dal (U) and the All-Jharkhand Students? Union, 24 seats to choose from.

Earlier this month, the BJP high command told the state leaders to stop squabbling with the ally and work together to stave off the challenge from the Congress-JMM combine.

Namdhari indicated that an arrangement could be worked out when he said that his party was ready to make ?certain? compromises at the talks table.

?These are the constituencies where our party has a strong chance of winning. I will raise this issue at the NDA coordination committee meeting. We will not let them repeat all that happened in the Lok Sabha election. I want them to resolve the seat-sharing problem in time to avoid confusion in the last leg. If the situation so arises, we can forgo our claims in certain constituencies. But now, we are going to stake our claim to 34 seats,? he said.