In the midst of speculation about early lok Sabha polls, the Congress has taken the initiative to forge a pre-poll alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand.
The Congress reportedly sent feelers to the JMM on Thursday to form an alternative Government in the State. The party High Command is said to have talked to the top leaders of the JMM and requested them to be available for a high-level meeting in Delhi at the earliest.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who has been active in Jharkhand while the State is under President’s Rule, has been authorised to negotiate with the JMM and other independent MlAs to form a Government.
The Congress High Command is believed to have engaged an independent agency to prepare a detailed report on the present political situation in the State and implications of the decision to form an alternative Government in alliance with the JMM. Well-placed sources in the Congress claimed that the report emphasised the need to forge a pre-poll alliance with the JMM keeping in view the results of the two consecutive lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009.
The report is said to have pointed out that the Congress and the JMM fought the lok Sabha elections in the State together — along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal — under the UPA-fold in 2004 and got 12 seats out of the total 14 lok Sabha seats in the State.
In contrast, when the Congress severed its electoral alliance with the JMM and contested the lok Sabha elections in 2009 with a tacit understanding with the newly-formed political party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, the party could not get more than one seat. Even its other UPA partner, the RJD, scored blank failing to retain the two seats that it bagged in 2004. In fact, the RJD failed to open its account in the 2009 elections, sources claimed, quoting the report.
Sources close to the JMM leadership said the proposed alternative Government would be formed under the leadership of the JMM and the Congress would decide whether it would participate in the Government or prefer to lend it outside support. Sources claimed there was no confusion between the two parties on the issue of seat-sharing.
Political analysts observed that the JMM could concede greater numbers of lok Sabha seats to the Congress in lieu of coming to form an alternative Government in the State.
Meanwhile, Congress legislative Party leader Rajendra Singh has expressed anguish over the poor performance by officials during the present dispensation of President’s Rule in the State. In a Press statement, Singh said there was no control over the bureaucracy even while the Governor and his advisers were trying their best to ensure development of the State under President’s Rule.
The Congress is as such worried about the success of the pro-development schemes in the run-up to the general elections in the State. And that has given a sense of urgency to prop up an alternative Government.