Ranchi: Formed seven weeks ago, the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition parties in Jharkhand is still struggling to work out a seat-sharing formula acceptable to major partners Congress JVM-P and RJD. Owing to differences over seat distribution, CPI-ML, CPI and CPM have already walked out of the alliance.In contrast, the ruling BJP has taken its supporters as well as opponents by surprise, by promptly settling the seat allotment issue with Ajsu-P, its lone partner. Ajsu-P is happy to contest Giridih, the only seat it has got from BJP, which in turn will 13 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats.After initial discussions, the mahagathbandhan constituents had agreed to allot seven seats to Congress, four to JMM, two to JVM-P and one to RJD. But there still seems to be no consensus among them over the identification of constituencies of their choice.Godda is one such seat that has kept Congress and JVM-P apart. The latter, which is happy to get Koderma, wants Godda, which Congress has set its sight on. Congress MLA (Jamtara) Irfan Ansari is aggressively campaigning for Godda, which his father and former MP Furkan Ansari wants to contest.“Godda has been traditionally our (Congress) seat. Leaving it for others will be suicidal for our party. Besides, giving up this seat may deprive the minority community of its voice. I hope better wisdom prevails in the state leadership,” Irfan says. The legislator has been campaigning in Delhi for many days to lobby for Godda.JMM, the principal opposition party in the state, will fight from Dumka and Rajmahal. Apart from these two, they were bargaining from Giridih, Lohardaga, Khunti and Singhbhum or Jamshedpur. “We will sacrifice the two seats for the sake of the mahagathbandhan out of six that we proposed,” a JMM leader says.Adding more to JMM’s woes, Congress is pressing for Khunti, Jamshedpur and Singhbhum seats. What has complicated the situation for Congress and JMM is their premature announcement of seat allocation for both parliamentary and assembly elections. The state is likely to go the assembly polls in the autumn. “We declared the seats early so that everybody would be clear about what they are getting,” JMM general secretary Vinod Pandey remarks.“In 2014 too, Congress, JMM and RJD fought the Lok Sabha elections together so that they could jointly contest the assembly polls as well. Later, Congress backed out before the 2014 assembly election. We don’t want such a thing to happen again in the larger interest of the state and its people,” Pandey explains, adding, “It is high time Congress shares its seat allotment plan.”“The delay in seat allotment will create only confusion and problems. That is why our working president Hemant Soren visited Delhi to meet AICC president Rahul Gandhi and other Congress functionaries a few days ago,” Pandey says.Pandey chooses to remain silent on whether his party will remain in the mahagathbandhan in case of its failure to allot seats for both Lok Sabha and assembly elections together. Many of its party colleagues recall how Congress did not announce seats for the 2014 assembly elections according to an understanding reached before the Lok Sabha election.Congress spokesperson Alok Dubey admits that the mahagathbandhan is yet to overcome the problems regarding seat allotment. “Our alliance will remain intact. Our senior leaders are discussing the matter and they will hopefully work out a seat sharing formula in a rational manner so that all the mahagathbandhan partners remain happy,” he remarks.

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