The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Friday inked a deal to form a coalition Government in Jharkhand while fighting the lok Sabha elections together in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. With the agreement, the JMM has become the first party to form a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the lok Sabha polls.
Significantly, though the RJD will be part of the Jharkhand Government, there is no mention of its share in the 14 lok Sabha seats from the State as the Congress got ten seats and the JMM four.
JMM leader Hemant Soren said that he will stake claim to form Government in the next few days. The Congress, which has 13 MlAs, has left it to the JMM, which has 18 MlAs, to hold negotiations with the RJD and Independents to get the 42 MlAs required for Government formation in the 82-member Assembly.
Keeping in mind the tainted past of the JMM, the Congress has insisted that a Common Agenda of Governance will be prepared and made public and a special Committee will be formed to monitor its implementation. A Coordination Committee headed by a JMM leader will also be set up to facilitate smooth functioning of the coalition Government.
The Congress will have five Ministers, the JMM will have the CM and four Ministers, the RJD is likely to get two Cabinet berths while one Independent may also be accommodated in the Government, sources said.
“As a matter of immediate priority, such an administration will also delegate the mandated powers to elected panchayat bodies, work to bring about visibly improved outcomes in key development sectors like agriculture, irrigation, education, power, roads, health, women and child welfare and delivery of pension and other benefits like scholarships,” AICC General Secretary BK Hariprasad said in a written statement.