Ranchi: The mahagathbandhan here ran into trouble as soon as it made public its long-awaited list of candidates for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state on Sunday.Unhappy with the mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing formula, RJD announced that it would go it alone in the polls. “We will now field our candidates in all 14 seats,” RJD principal general secretary Sanjay Singh Yadav said.This followed after the mahagathbandhan, where Congress is the biggest constituent, offered RJD only one seat, instead of two as demanded by the latter.Under a deal struck after weeks of negotiations, the mahagathbandhan allotted seven seats to Congress, four to JMM and two to JVM-P The deal was unveiled by state Congress president Ajoy Kumar in the presence of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and his son, Hemant, and JVM-P chief Babulal Marandi.As a mark of protest, RJD stayed away from the announcement ceremony held at Shibu’s residence here. “We have left Palamu for RJD,” Kumar said in his announcement.On behalf of the mahagathbandhan, Congress will contest from Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga, Singbhum, Hazaribag, Dhanbad and Chatra seats. Likewise, JMM will field its candidates in Dumka, Rajmahal, Giridih and Jamshedpur . JVM-P will fight for Koderma and Godda Initially, RJD, which heads a similar mahagathbandhan of anti-BJP parties in Bihar, had asked for Chatra, Palamu and Koderma, all of which share their borders with south-eastern Bihar. Following objections from other constituent parties, it brought down the figure to two (Palamu and Chatra).All through the day, speculation was rife about the possibility of state RJD president Annapurna Devi switching over to BJP and contesting the polls from Koderma.Long before RJD, Left parties (CPI-ML, CPI and CPM ) had walked out of the mahagathbandhan after they were not allotted any seat.Not ready to lose the support of anti-BJP forces, Kumar said, “We have kept our doors open for negotiations. If we reach a consensus, we can still fight together in at least one seat.” But the Left parties did not look ready for further talks. “Our general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya will name the candidates and unveil our manifesto on Monday,” CPI-ML state unit said in a statement.Hemant, who described Congress as “a big brother”, said the mahagathbandhan allies would meet again in a day or two to form a coordination committee to finalise their campaign strategies and draft a common manifesto.Sources said the mahagathbandhan is likely announce the names of its candidates by March 31. It is learnt that Kumar could contest from Dhanbad while Shibu from Dumka. Marandi is likely to fight from Koderma.Elections in Jharkhand will be held in four phases between April 29 and May 19. The nomination process for the first phase of election will be from April 2 to 9.Looking confident, Hemant, a former chief minister said, “The mahagatbandhan will break its 2009 record of 13 seats. This time, it will win all 14 seats.”Asked if RJD’s absence will have any effect on the mahagatbandhan’s performance, Kumar said, “Talks are still underway. It is up to them (RJD) to decide. Our common objective is to defeat BJP both at the Centre and in the state. These (differences) are part of life.”Mahagathbandhan leaders said as a matter of principle, they would not field any political turncoats in the polls. Taking note of the aspirations of minorities and ticket-seekers, Marandi said, “We have discussed this matter with utmost seriousness. Minorities will get the first preference in the next Rajya Sabha election.”

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