Some Congress leaders suggest that their party seems to have surrendered before JMM, its regional partner in Jharkhand.
As the Chief Minister of Jharkhand and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader, Hemant Soren has been attending Opposition meetings in Patna and Bangalore to cement Opposition strength. Back in Jharkhand, Congress leaders indicate that the JMM wants to play a “big brother” role in Lok Sabha elections as opposed to the last elections in 2019 when the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was the “junior” partner.
A senior Congress leader in the state said, “The Congress party has become stronger almost everywhere in the country after Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra became successful. A positive message has gone among tribals and the backward classes about Rahul Gandhi and more people are willing to vote for the grand old party this time. But it seems like the JMM is eyeing a big brother role in the state for Lok Sabha elections. And for it, channels of communication between the two parties should be started and strengthened, so that the void between the parties that could emerge is nipped in the bud and does not come into existence.”
Congress leaders believe that the two parties should, as soon as possible, get to the negotiating table and offer the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to take more seats in Assembly elections and let the Congress lead in the Lok Sabha. A party insider said, “The PCC chief and the in-charge of Jharkhand should handle the issue and resolve everything as soon as possible if there is anything brewing between the two parties. Although the two parties are together and will remain together, not resolving issues on time could surely snowball into something bigger. Both the parties want to grow on the ground and want to yield more electoral power. And not keeping each other informed about the alliance associated activities could turn the association into a bitter one.” Moreover, the Congress is also contemplating to give ticket to a Muslim candidate this time as against last time when there was no party had fielded a Muslim candidate. The Muslim population in Jharkhand is around 50 lakh (14%) of total 3.30 crore, and the Christian population in the state is around 14 lakh (4.30%) of total 3.30 crore.
Last time in 2019, the Congress had fought the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, where the grand old party had its hands on 9 seats out of which the party had offered two to the then Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) (JVM) led by former Union Minister and first Chief Minister of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi. And the remaining five, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had contested on 4 and the RJD on one. The state has 14 Lok Sabha seats. However, the then United Progressive Alliance was only able to win two seats and BJP was able to retain their seat share of 12. It is also notable to mention that the saffron camp had also increased their vote percentage from around 44% to 56%.
In addition to that, another section of Congress leaders suggest that the party seems to have surrendered in front of its regional partner (JMM) which could play a debilitating impact for the party in the long run. A party leader said that if “a clear picture of the electoral space is not drawn for us, regional players could transgress into our political space and thus we will lose our cadre and the traditional voters that have been voting for the party”.