The Congress decision not to join the Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir has led to speculation about the relations between the two pre-poll allies. There have been reports that the Congress demanded two Cabinet berths and the post of deputy Speaker. Alternatively, the party wanted the post of Speaker along with one Cabinet berth. It is said that the chief minister has not agreed to the Congress demand. Therefore, the Congress has decided to sit out.
Doubts have also been raised over the continuation of the alliance. Sources, however, said there is no dispute between the two allies over the posts for Congress MLAs, as the chief minister is ready to accommodate Congress to its satisfaction. They said it was the Congress party’s decision not to join the government at this moment. According to sources, the Congress may join the government after the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections.
The Congress leadership feels that joining the government of Omar Abdullah, whose party’s election manifesto demanded re-imposition of Article 370, may give an issue to the BJP to polarise the upcoming election in the two states. The BJP has been successful in winning the perception war on Article 370 so much so that the Congress had to avoid mentioning the issue in its manifesto. Even after its abrogation, Article 370 continues to remain a potent issue within and outside J&K. The Congress is hopeful of doing well in Maharashtra and Jharkhand by fighting the election on local issues. It doesn’t want Article 370 to spoil its chances.
Alliance Talk
JMM wants Congress to leave seats for RJD
The filing of nominations for the first phase of elections in Jharkhand has begun. The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance, however, is still quibbling over the sharing of seats. JMM leader and state Chief Minister Hemant Soren has announced that Congress and his party will contest 70 out of the total 81 seats in the state, leaving the remaining 11 seats for the RJD and the Left parties. The RJD has expressed unhappiness over this announcement, stating that it would have been better if all alliance partners had been consulted beforehand.
There is also no clarity on how the 70 seats will be divided between the JMM and Congress. Sources say Soren wants the JMM to contest 43 seats and leave 27 for Congress. However, Congress is not happy with this arrangement, having contested 31 seats in the last election. It later added two more MLAs from Babulal Marandi’s JVM and had a BJP MLA quit the party to contest the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket.
This brought its total number of contested seats to 34 (31+2+1). The party expects to fight on 34 seats. Soren, however, is keen to accommodate the Left parties in the alliance and wants to give them four seats. The RJD wants to at least retain its 2019 share, when the JMM fought on 43 seats, Congress on 31, and RJD on 7. The allies are racing against time to come to an understanding amid rising tensions.