Finalising a seat-sharing formula for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand, where the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition is in power, would be a big challenge for the Opposition's INDIA bloc.
Besides JMM, Congress, and RJD, three more constituents of the INDIA bloc -- JD(U), CPI, and CPI (ML) -- are staking claims on some seats in the state.
On Saturday the four-member delegation of JMM led by transport minister Champai Soren with the National Alliance Committee (NAC) of the Congress at the residence of party general secretary Mukul Wasnik in New Delhi.
The JMM is eyeing at least five Lok Sabha seats, including Rajmahal, Dumka, Giridih, Jamshedpur, and Koderma. Rajmahal is its sitting seat of JMM.
In 2019, as part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the JMM contested the four aforementioned seats barring Koderma, which has been added to the demand list for 2024. The Congress got nine of 14 seats while JMM got five constituencies. While the Congress allocated two from its quota, Koderma and Godda, to Babulal Marandi-led JVM (P), JMM gave one seat, Palamu, to the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) from its kitty.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has expressed its desire to contest Lok Sabha seats beyond Jharkhand “wherever it has had its political and organisational footprints in the past”, people aware of the development.
“Besides contesting in Jharkhand, the party has expressed its desire to contest tribal-dominated seats in neighbouring Odisha, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Bihar. JMM wants representation in areas where it has had its organisational and political footprints in the past. JMM contesting in some of the seats outside Jharkhand would add to the strength of the INDIA bloc due to the face value of tribal CM Hemant Soren. Now, the top leadership of the two parties would decide over the issue in subsequent meetings,” a senior leader who was part of the negotiations on Saturday said.
However, this time the issue is adjusting more alliance partners. RJD, the third partner party of the ruling alliance in the state, also wants "more" for itself. RJD state spokesperson Manoj Kumar said that the party wants to contest elections on four Lok Sabha seats in the state - Palamu, Chatra, Koderma and Godda. The state unit of the party has conveyed this to the RJD national president.
Among the left parties, CPI is claiming one seat, Hazaribagh, from where the party's Bhuvneshwar Prasad Mehta was elected MP in 2004.
Similarly, CPI (ML) is staking claim on three Lok Sabha seats Hazaribagh, Rajmahal and Koderma. The state committee of the party has passed a proposal to field a candidate from the Rajmahal seat under any circumstances.
Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has not had any significant influence in Jharkhand for the last decade, but despite this, the party wants two seats for itself. It is being said that to strengthen its demand, the JD(U) will cite the vote bank of the Koeri-Kurmi community on these seats.
Overall, there is currently a tug-of-war regarding seat distribution and it is very difficult to create a universally accepted formula among all the constituent parties.