RANCHI: INDIA bloc’s election campaign in Jharkhand hit choppy waters on Saturday after an alleged unilateral seat-sharing arrangement between JMM and Congress left RJD fuming.
Trouble began in the afternoon after CM and JMM executive president Hemant Soren, accompanied by netas of Congress, announced that JMM and the grand old party would field candidates in 70 of the 81 assembly seats.“We will also have a new partner in our alliance — Left parties,” Hemant said.
Not just RJD, Left also absent during Hemant presser
That RJD was not happy with the deal was made clear as its senior functionary and former Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, who was in town, was not seen with Hemant and Congress politicians when the announcement was made. The RJD politician had called upon Hemant soon after arriving on Friday night. Soon after the seat-sharing announcement, Tejashwi went into a huddle with senior politicians and members of his party’s Jharkhand unit.
Meanwhile, sources said that of the 70 seats between them, JMM is eyeing contesting 44 seats while Congress will settle for 26. Hemant, however, stopped short of announcing the candidates. He said the “candidates will be finalised in consultation with our alliance partners”. What struck observers was the absence of not only Tejashwi but also members of the Left during the announcement at Hemant’s residence.
RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha said, “We are saddened and unhappy with the unilateral announcement made by Congress and JMM regarding seat-sharing. Due consultation process was not followed even as our top leaders, including Tejahswi, were in Ranchi.”
RJD’s discontent stemmed from the fact that its netas were eyeing 15 to 18 seats. “We have a strong presence in several districts. The alliance partners should make the decision taking in view the prevailing circumstances.” Jha said, stressing that the party was keeping all its options open. “No party can neglect the sentiments of its representatives and workers,” he added.
Notably, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Hemant arrived at the hotel where Tejashwi was holding a meeting with other RJD politicians. Subsequently, minister Satynand Bhokta told the media that differences within the alliance would be removed. Later in the evening, Tejashwi and the RJD entourage met Hemant at his home.
For the Left’s part, CPI-ML politburo member Janardhan Prasad said, “We strongly object to the announcement made by just two parties regarding the seat-sharing. They should have consulted other parties as well.” CPI-ML state secretary Manoj Bhakt said his party was preparing for 13 seats but there are at least six seats where it would fight the election. He said the announcement was vague about how many seats CPI-ML would get.