New Delhi: Ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections, members of the INDIA bloc have been bargaining hard for their share of seats even as the alliance members in the state – Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation have released the first list of candidates for their respective parties, giving an indication of the final contours of the alliance’s seat-sharing deal.
While Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had announced on October 19, after meeting Congress leaders, that the two would contest 70 of the total 81 seats in the state, the division of seats between the two are yet to be formally announced.
Late on Tuesday, JMM released its first list of 35 candidates which included Soren from Barhait, his wife Kalpana from Gandey and his brother Basant from Dumka. Just hours before, the RJD and the CPI(ML) also released their first list of six and three candidates each, amid hard negotiations over the 11 seats which are to be divided among them.
सभी प्रत्याशियों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ।
हम सब मिलकर चुनौतियों से लडेंगे और माननीय मुख्यमंत्री @HemantSorenJMM जी को फिर राज्य का अगला मुख्यमंत्री बनाने के लिए अपना सब कुछ झोंक देंगे। @JmmJharkhand pic.twitter.com/rWKAxw79ix
— Kunal Sarangi 🇮🇳 (@KunalSarangi) October 22, 2024
CPI-ML negotiates
Sources told The Wire that any decision on seat sharing should have been taken together, ostensibly miffed with the situation of the RJD and the CPI(ML) getting only 11 seats between themselves.
In the 2019 elections, the Congress contested the Jharkhand elections along with the RJD and the JMM. In 2024, it got a fourth alliance partner in the form of the CPI(ML).
The Wire has learnt from insiders in the CPI(ML) that the party had demanded six seats. Amid hard bargaining between the alliance partners, the party has announced three candidates for Dhanwar, Sindri and Nirsa respectively on October 22. Sources said that a fourth seat – Bagodar – has also been finalised for the CPI(ML).
While the CPI(ML) was batting for a fifth seat – Jamua – the JMM list released on the evening of October 22 named sitting BJP MLA Kedar Hazra who recently joined the party as the nominated candidate. The CPI(ML) believed that it has good organisational presence to fight the seat though the JMM wanted to reward Hazra with a ticket.
Both the JMM and CPI(ML) have also named candidates for Dhanwar – Nizamuddin Ansari and Rajkumar Yadav, respectively. The BJP in its 66-candidate list released on October 19 named its state president and former chief minister Babulal Marandi from the seat.
While CPI(ML) insiders have ruled out parting ways with the alliance, they added that the the party bargained for those seats which they have either won in the past or have come close to winning.
“We are hoping that talks will reach a solution. It would have been better if we had all sat down together and decided everything. But we have said we are a part of the alliance and are committed to defeating the BJP, and are hopeful that talks will be fruitful,” a CPI(ML) leader who did not wish to be named said.
RJD’s place
Meanwhile the RJD, The Wire has learnt, had initially demanded seven seats. Late on October 22, the party released a list of six candidates.
“In a few days you will find out the seats we are fighting on, and who are our alliance candidates. INDIA alliance will put up a strong fight and the people of Jharkhand want Hemant Soren to be chief minister. We are united and will form the government unitedly,” said RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav to reporters on Tuesday night.
The list came days after the RJD had expressed disappointment with the alliance’s decision that only 11 seats are to be distributed between the RJD and the CPI(ML). RJD MP Manoj Jha has already publicly announced his party’s disappointment that decisions in an alliance should be taken in a consultative manner, and cannot be “unilateral”.
“I’ve emphasised several times that we should have a respectable seat. We’re strong in at least 18 to 20 seats, but if it’s 12 or 13 (seats) – we can accept that, as long as it’s not unreasonable. If asked to contest from three or four, it would be akin to sacrificing the party that is most committed to defeating the BJP,” he said while addressing reporters on October 20.
JMM-Congress
Meanwhile, even among the main and bigger alliance partners – the Congress and the JMM – while the announcement of 70 seats has been made, a decision on how this will be distributed between the two parties has been a point of hard negotiation.
Congress insiders said to The Wire that at the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting held on Monday, October 21, it was conveyed by screening committee members that the number of seats for the Congress was fewer than what was earlier decided by the top leadership of the two parties.
But Jharkhand Congress chief Keshav Mahato Kamlesh upon arriving in Ranchi on Tuesday said to reporters that the party will fight on 30 seats and the rest will be contested by the JMM.
Earlier on Monday the Congress released its first list of 21 candidates with the party’s Jharkhand-in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir telling reporters that about 70% of the party’s seats had been finalised.
“We have decided about 70% of the seats from our party. On some seats there was a direction to revisit, which will be done. Last time we were only three coalition partners-Congress, JMM and RJD. Now we have a fourth partner, CPI(ML),” he said.
“Like we had said earlier that we had given clearance for 70 seats, and the remaining 11 seats, 7-8 will go this way or that on the basis of merit.”
The Congress’ first list included state finance minister Rameshwar Oraon from the Lohardaga, former Lok Sabha MP Ajoy Kumar from Jamshedpur East, sitting Mandar MLA Shipli Neha Tirkey, among others.
