Congress Sabotaging INDI Alliance With Its Seat Sharing Formulas, One State At A Time: Here's The Latest From Jharkhand

The Congress, a junior partner in the ruling alliance in Jharkhand, has unilaterally staked claim to nine of the state’s 14 Lok Sabha seats. 

And that has angered the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) which, as the major partner in the ruling alliance, is also planning to field its candidates from at least seven seats. 

Even the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is a minor partner in the JMM-led alliance with just one MLA (in the 81-member assembly), is unhappy with the unilateral declaration by the Congress. 

The Congress, say angry JMM and RJD leaders, needlessly jumped the gun by declaring that it will contest from nine seats even before seat-sharing talks commenced. 

The Congress has demonstrated its resolve by appointing election coordinators for all the 14 Lok Sabha seats . 

In 2019, as the major constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the Congress was allocated nine seats in Jharkhand. But it left two seats from its quota — Godda and Koderma — to the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) which was founded by Babulal Marandi. 

Marandi merged his party with the BJP in February 2020. The Congress won only the Singhbhum seat while the JMM, which contested from four seats, won only the Rajmahal seat. 

The RJD was allocated one seat (Palamau), where it suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the BJP. 

The BJP swept the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Jharkhand by winning 11 of the 14 seats while its ally — the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) — won one seat. 

“We are strong in Jharkhand and it is only fair that the seat allocation formula of 2019 be adhered to this time as well. That is why we have declared that we will contest from the nine seats that were allocated to us in 2019,” Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) president Rajesh Thakur told Swarajya. 

But, point out JMM leaders, in the assembly elections held a few months after the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won only 16 seats and garnered a humble vote share (13.88 per cent).  

The JMM had bagged 30 assembly seats while the RJD got one seat. With 47 MLAs, the three parties (JMM, Congress and RJD) formed the government. 

“Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections are different. At the state level, the JMM is the leader of the alliance while at the national level, we (the Congress) are the major party. That is why we deserve to contest from a majority of the Lok Sabha seats and will be very happy to allow the JMM to field its candidates from a majority of the assembly seats in the state elections due by the end of this year,” explained Congress legislature party leader Alamgir Alam. 

The nine Lok Sabha seats that the Congress wants to field its nominees from are Ranchi, Dhanbad, Singhbhum, Khunti, Lohardaga, Koderma, Godda, Hazaribag and Chatra. 

Apart from the four Lok Sabha seats it contested in 2019 — Raj Mahal, Jamshedpur, Giridih and Dumka — the JMM also wants to contest from Singhbhum, Ranchi and Dhanbad. 

The RJD wants to contest from Palamu, Koderma and Godda. The Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), which is now a constituent of the INDI Alliance, is eyeing Hazaribagh and Giridih. 

The Left parties are planning to lay claim on the Hazaribag, Koderma and Dhanbad Lok Sabha seats. 

With multiple claimants for quite a few of the Lok Sabha seats in the state, seat-sharing talks for Jharkhand among the INDI Alliance partners which are scheduled to commence by the third week of this month will be quite stormy. 

The JMM, RJD, JD(U) and Left are angry with the Congress for queering the pitch even before the seat-sharing talks could begin by staking claim to a lion’s share of seats from the state. 

JD(U) leader Basharat Ahmed told Swarajya that as in Bihar, the Congress is “playing spoilsport” in Jharkhand too. 

“The Congress seems to be divorced from ground realities in both the states. It has a grossly inflated impression of its actual strength on the ground. The Congress should accept the ground reality and accept the leadership of regional parties in the two states,” said Ahmed. 

Faced with a barrage of criticism, the Congress signalled its flexibility. AICC-in-charge of Jharkhand, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, told Swarajya that the party would be willing to concede a couple of seats to accommodate the JD(U) and the Left. 

“Seat-sharing talks will conclude amicably and there won’t be any hiccups. But we will ensure that the sentiments of our party workers in Jharkhand are not hurt and their aspirations are taken care of during the seat-sharing talks,” said Mir. 

The JD(U), on its part, has scoffed at the Congress’ offer of just one seat. The JD(U) has finalised its plans to contest from Hazaribagh and Giridih seats.

JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will launch the party’s poll campaign in Jharkhand by addressing a rally at Ramgarh in Hazaribagh. Ramgarh has a large population of Kurmis, the caste that Kumar belongs to. 

Nitish Kumar and other senior JD(U) leaders also plan to address rallies in Giridih. 

All this lays bare the divisions among the INDI Alliance partners in Jharkhand. Divisions were accentuated by the Congress laying claim to a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in the state despite being a junior partner in the ruling alliance with barely one-fifth of the assembly seats in the state in its kitty.