Cong-JMM differences make seat sharing seem impossible in Jharkhand

RANCHI: Finalising a seat-sharing formula for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand, where the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition is in power, would be a big challenge for the Opposition's INDIA bloc.

Besides JMM, Congress, and RJD, three more constituents of the INDIA bloc -- JD(U), CPI, and CPI (ML) -- are staking claims on some seats in the state.

Any official talks on the issue of seat sharing between INDIA allies haven't yet taken place in the state, and there seems hardly any possibility for such talks in the next 15-20 days. However, parties at individual levels are brainstorming to finalise the number of seats they would be staking claim for.

On January 2-3, newly-appointed Jharkhand in-charge of Congress Ghulam Ahmad Mir was in Ranchi. He held separate meetings with the Congress Legislature Party and key party leaders to discuss the seats for which the party would stake claim.

On January 4, Congress Legislature Party leader Alamgir Alam and state party president Rajesh Thakur participated in a meeting called by the party's top leadership to discuss the issue in New Delhi.

According to sources, it was decided in the meeting that the party will stake claim on 10 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand.

Congress believes that it has accepted Hemant Soren's leadership in state politics, so in return, it should get a bigger stake in national politics.

When the media asked Alam about the seat-sharing issue after he arrived from Delhi, he said: "I do not think there is any problem in the seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand. Everything will be decided on time without any dispute."

On the other hand, the JMM has staked claim on eight Lok Sabha seats of the state. On December 19, JMM MP Vijay Hansda, General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji participated in the meeting of constituent parties of the INDIA bloc in New Delhi and presented their views on the claim for seats.

JMM says that its support base in the state is bigger than the other constituent parties of the bloc, thus it has a claim on at least 60 per cent of the seats.

RJD, the third partner party of the ruling alliance in the state, also wants "more" for itself. RJD state spokesperson Manoj Kumar said that the party wants to contest elections on four Lok Sabha seats in the state - Palamu, Chatra, Koderma and Godda. The state unit of the party has conveyed this to the RJD national president.

Among the left parties, CPI is claiming one seat, Hazaribagh, from where the party's Bhuvneshwar Prasad Mehta was elected MP in 2004.

Similarly, CPI (ML) is staking claim on three Lok Sabha seats Hazaribagh, Rajmahal and Koderma. The state committee of the party has passed a proposal to field a candidate from the Rajmahal seat under any circumstances.

Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has not had any significant influence in Jharkhand for the last decade, but despite this, the party wants two seats for itself. It is being said that to strengthen its demand, the JD(U) will cite the vote bank of the Koeri-Kurmi community on these seats.

Overall, there is currently a tug-of-war regarding seat distribution and it is very difficult to create a universally accepted formula among all the constituent parties.