Jamshedpur: The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) alliance is currently having a 2-day meeting in Mumbai to chalk out its election strategy. The of the Opposition parties is to fight one-to-one against the BJP in all the seats in all states. In Jharkhand too, there is an informal discussion on the formula for seats sharing among the ‘INDIA’ partners.
Interestingly, seven parties will form the family of ‘I.N.D.I.A’ in Jharkhand. In the future, if another party joins, this family can become bigger. Currently, Congress, JMM, RJD, JDU, CPI-Male, CPI and CPI-M India are part of the alliance.
Jharkhand has 14 Lok Sabha seats and seven parties of the Alliance are contenders. The distribution of seats will be a big challenge for them. The distribution of 14 seats among seven parties may prove to be a lopsided affair. In the current Lok Sabha elections, everything was the same in the alliance with the UPA, as is seen in the ‘I.N.D.I.A’ alliance today. Only one party JD(U), which was a part of the NDA in 2019, has joined as their new partner. In 2019, JVM (PR) joined them as a new partner but the party no longer exists in the Election Commission’s list.
At the same time, the previous results can be the basis of the seat sharing. When the talks between the ‘I.N.D.I.A’ coalitions start, results of the previous elections will be put forward. Barring 2004, the Left has never been part of the UPA during the Lok Sabha elections when the Congress, JMM and RJD contested the elections together. CPI (ML) and CPI were alone in the election field. Therefore, during the distribution of seats, the ‘INDIA’ alliance will definitely base the results of the previous Lok Sabha and the formula of seat distribution, but here the Left parties have claimed to contest the elections on four seats.
The ruling JMM which is currently leading the coalition in the state seems to be eager to play the big brother role this time. JMM wants to play the role of big brother in the Lok Sabha elections, but it is too early to say whether the Congress will accept it or not. Congress will have to sacrifice some seats to include the Left parties in this family.