Notwithstanding threats from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to pull out of their alliance, the Congress has decided against conceding one more seat in Jharkhand.
In January, the Opposition alliance in Jharkhand was stitched together between the Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, RJD and the CPI. But the seat distribution among the allies is yet to be announced.
Battle for Chatra
The State has 14 Lok Sabha seats and the Congress has given the Palamu seat to the RJD. The RJD has been demanding another constituency, Chatra, which it has won in 1999 and 2004.
“We have an obvious claim over Chatra. The negotiations are still on, let us see what comes of it. We will decide in a day or two, and if need be, pull out of the alliance,” RJD general secretary Sanjay Yadav said.
The Congress, however, is in no mood to renegotiate the terms that were announced on Sunday.
“The RJD is in complete disarray in the State. The party’s face, Annapurna Devi, joined the BJP on Monday. If they indeed decide to walk away from the alliance, we will not have a problem since we will get an additional seat,” a senior Congress leader said.
In fact a dominant section of the party believes that handing over Palamu to the RJD would be suicidal.
Congress leader R.P.N. Singh, in-charge of Jharkhand, told The Hindu that the seat sharing arrangement between the allies has been settled. “We have given RJD Palamu seat and I won’t say beyond that,” he said.
In disarray
The opposition alliance, one of the first to be sealed, however, is not looking too strong at present with the Congress having already unceremoniously dropped the CPI which had demanded the Hazaribagh seat.
There is a rebellion within the Congress ranks too, for conceding some of its strongholds like Jamshedpur and Godda to allies. The Congress did not get a single seat from the State in 2014; in 2009 it won only one seat. It has been looking at reversing the record of past two polls.
