As the Jharkhand assembly elections approach, cracks have emerged within the INDIA bloc, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) expressing dissatisfaction over the seat-sharing arrangement between its allies, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress. On Saturday, RJD spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha criticized the decision, calling it a “unilateral” move and hinted that “all options were open” for the party.
Jharkhand’s assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting set for November 23. Earlier in the day, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, from the JMM, announced that the JMM and Congress would jointly contest 70 of the state’s 81 seats.
“We express our disappointment over the offer of seats to us. The decision is unilateral,” said Jha, emphasizing that the RJD had not been consulted during the discussions.
Jha also pointed out that the RJD has identified 15 to 18 seats in Jharkhand where it believes it has a strong chance of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) independently. In the last assembly elections, the RJD contested seven seats, finishing as runner-up in five.
The discontent between the INDIA bloc partners raises questions about the strength of the alliance ahead of the crucial assembly polls.