Seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections 2024 between the Congress and the Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) seem to have hit a roadblock. A day after both the parties announced the seat-sharing deal in the poll-bound state, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has called it "unilateral".
Fissures are emerging among the JMM and the Congress as well due to the latter's demand to give RJD more seats from the JMM's quota, The Indian Express reported quoting sources.
Soren on Saturday announced that his party and the Congress would contest 70 out of the 81 assembly seats in the state. He said that the remaining 11 constituencies would be left for other alliance partners.
After this, RJD MP Manoj Jha called the seat-sharing deal "unilateral" and pitched for more tickets for his party.
He said that "less than 12-13 seats" was not acceptable to his party, claiming that the regional party has a stronghold in 18-20 constituencies. Jha said: "Our sole aim is to defeat the BJP, we will not sabotage the INDIA bloc."
He added that even if the RJD decides to go solo in Jharkhand polls, it will back the INDI alliance's candidates in around 60 constituencies.
As per sources, Hemant Soren was upset with the Congress leadership.
"Hemant Soren had a conversation with Congress general secretary for organisation K C Venugopal and there were certain disagreements over seat-sharing, with the latter asking that the RJD be given more seats from JMM's quota. The conversation did not end on a happy note," the source was quoted as saying by the publication.
A source said that initially, the JMM was supposed to get 50 seats and accommodate the Left parties from its share. The Congress would get the remaining 31 seats, with the RJD expected to get its share from the grand old party's quota.
A JMM leader said that the RJD is talking without any basis and calculating the runners-up when the focus is on winners while zeroing in on the seat-sharing deal.
"If the Congress wants to accommodate RJD, then they should do it from their quota. Nationally, the RJD and the Congress are allies. Why bother the JMM, a regional party?" the leader asked.
While it is highly likely that the high-profile Ranchi assembly seat could go to the JMM, some leaders within the Congress have staked a claim on it. A frustrated local Congress leader said that it seems like the grand old party has become the JMM's second fiddle.
“Anant Pratap Deo quit the Congress to join the BJP and now the JMM is set to reward him with a ticket. This is against the coalition dharma and has been communicated to the state leadership of our party. It seems that we have become the JMM’s second fiddle.”