Ahead of assembly polls Cong, JMM part ways over seat sharing in Jharkhand

New Delhi: Three weeks before polling in Jharkhand, there is a split in the ruling coalition of the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The break-up gains significance as JMM is the third regional ally of the Congress party with which it has parted ways.

The National Conference (NC) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) split from the Congress just before assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra, respectively.

“The main issue was seat sharing. In some regions of Jharkhand, both Congress and JMM are strong. We have our best faces in these regions and it so happens that even the JMM was unable to give up those seats. So, we finally agreed to disagree,” said B.K. Hariprasad, Congress’ general secretary in charge of Jharkhand.

He added that the party will contest the upcoming polls in Jharkhand with the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), or JD(U). The three parties that contested the Lok Sabha elections separately had come together during the Bihar by-elections in August.

In reply to a question on whether the repeated breaking of alliances could hurt the party’s image, Hariprasad said: “In Jharkhand, it is a question of the survival of the party. We cannot lose our base in the state, we want to strengthen it.”

The Congress is in an alliance with chief minister Hemant Soren-led JMM, which has headed a coalition in Jharkhand with other parties, including the RJD since July last year. Soren is the fifth chief minister of the politically volatile state that has seen nine different state governments since it was formed in 2000 after it was carved out from Bihar.

According to a JMM leader close to Soren, the chief minister has been in Delhi for the last three days in an attempt to salvage the alliance but the talks fell through over the Congress party’s insistence on a larger number of seats.

“While the seat sharing was agreed to 41 seats for the JMM and the rest for Congress and other allies, the party abruptly informed him (Soren) about parting ways on Friday morning,” the leader cited above said, requesting anonymity.

The Congress party was divided over the decision to split with the JMM. While the state unit was keen on fighting the polls alone, senior leaders were of the opinion that a strong regional ally could help its prospects in the backdrop of its recent electoral drubbing in both Haryana and Maharashtra.

With this development in Jharkhand, the Congress party is set to strengthen its alliance with the RJD and the JD(U) with which it is keen to contest the crucial Bihar state assembly elections due at the end of next year.

“The Congress still does not seem to be having a concrete strategy. If it was only about dumping the alliance partners, they should have gone completely solo which they are not doing in Jharkhand,” said Manisha Priyam, a New Delhi- based political analyst.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which analysts feel has an edge in Jharkhand, won 12 out of a total 14 Lok Sabha seats from the state in the April-May general elections, leaving two seats for the JMM and none for the Congress party.

Jharkhand will go to the polls in five phases beginning 25 November.

Gyan Varma contributed to the story.