Congress parts ways with JMM after 16 months

Ranchi: Congress on Friday broke its alliance with the ruling JMM ahead of Assembly elections in Jharkhand after sharing power for around 16 months. The move came after talks between Congress and JMM leaders failed in New Delhi.

AICC General Secretary and state in-charge BK Hariprasad said the Congress would contest Assembly polls along with RJD and JD (U), its allies during the by-polls held in Bihar in August.

Hariprasad said the Congress would take a decision later on whether to withdraw support to the Hemant Soren government. Importantly, the state is set to go for Assembly polls beginning 25th November in five phases.

Meanwhile, talks between the JVM (P) and Congress leaders too, failed to reach any conclusion. Two senior JVM leaders Pradip Yadav and Pravin Singh were camping in New Delhi to negotiate on seat sharing issue. Party president Babulal Marandi said the party was ready to contest the election alone.

The AICC General Secretary added that the Congress was willing to contest elections with the help of other like-minded small parties. “Both parties were having problems with seat sharing. We broke the alliance after we were not able to come up with a workable solution,” Hariprasad said.

Sources said the JMM was adamant on fielding its candidates in Jamtara, Ghatsila and Pakur seats against the will of Congress which sought 45 seats including the three. The Congress also asked the JMM to accommodate JD (U) and RJD from its quota of remaining 36 seats.

Hints of a break-up were visible on October 27 when several leaders of the Jharkhand PCC who attended the party’s extended Working Committee meeting resented contesting the assembly elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

In the 81member Jharkhand Assembly, the BJP has 17 seats, JMM 15, Congress Party 12, RJD 5, JVM (P) 6, AJSU 6, RJD 5, JD (U) 2, TMC 2, CPI (ML) 2 and Independents 5.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and former MP of Ranchi Subodh Kant Sahay said an impasse on candidates in tribal areas caused the split with the JMM.

“Most of the tribal seats had become non-negotiable with the JMM. We had given them a free hand with the election strategy in the state and we requested them at a very personal level to not cause conflicts over three-four seats,” Sahay told reporters.

In the Lok Sabha polls held five months ago, the BJP had won 12 out of 14 seats bagging 40 per cent votes while the Congress had polled a little over 13 per cent votes with the ruling JMM getting 12 percent.

Ever since its formation, Jharkhand has so far seen nine chief ministers and three terms of President’s Rule owing to failed political alliances and negotiations.