Infighting unravels Grand Alliance in J'khand

RANCHI: Far from taking arch-rival BJP head-on, the mahagathbandhan in Jharkhand is busy keeping its house in order, which may ultimately affect its campaign for the Lok Sabha election. This is despite the fact that the mahagathbandhan in Jharkhand was the first anti-NDA alliance to come up in the country since BJP's defeat in last year's assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
Since the announcement of the election dates, the mahagathbandhan has seen the exit of Left parties such as CPI, CPM and CPI (ML) over the allotment of seats. Later, it faced the daunting task of settling the dispute between RJD and other constituents - Congress, JMM, JVM-P - over the Chatra seat. The Lalu Prasad-led party wanted three seats - Chatra, Koderma and Palamu, all bordering Bihar. But Congress, JMM and JVM-P allotted it only Palamu.
This made RJD field a parallel candidate in Chatra, which voted on April 29. The division of votes between the RJD and Congress candidates in Chatra might give BJP an edge over the mahagathbandhan. Owing to such squabbling among its constituents, the mahagathbandhan could not invite top campaigners such as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for the April 29 polls, the first of the four phases of voting in the state. Lohardaga and Palamu were the other two seats that went to the polls along with Chatra.
RJD's failure to get Koderma created problems in its own organisation. Its state president, Annapurna Devi, switched over to BJP and is now contesting on an NDA ticket against JVM-P president Babulal Marandi, who was also Jharkhand's first chief minister. "Annapurna's entry will help us expand our base. Girinath Singh and many other influential RJD leaders have followed her into our organisation," remarks state BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo.
Many in the mahagathbandhan are worried if they can keep the grand alliance intact until the assembly elections scheduled to take place later this year. At the time of its formation, the mahagathbandhan had said it would fight the assembly elections together under JMM working president Hemant Soren. It had then declared that it would acknowledge Rahul Gandhi as its leader in the Lok Sabha election.
"We were eager to have the Left parties in the alliance for both the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections," says state Congress president Ajoy Kumar. The Left parties quit the alliance after they failed to get Hazaribag.
The departure of the Left is likely to make things difficult for the mahagathbandhan in Hazaribag, which was once represented by CPI in parliament, and Koderma, where CPI (ML)'s Raj Kumar Yadav is contesting. In Hazaribag, CPI has fielded Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta against BJP stalwart and Union minister Jayant Sinha and Congress's Gopal Sahu.
One big problem the mahagathbandhan faces is the inability of its local heroes - JMM chief Shibu Soren (who is reportedly not keeping good health) and Lalu Prasad (who is serving a jail term) - to campaign for its candidates. Keeping a low profile, Shibu did not speak at all at the ceremony where JMM released its poll manifesto.
Earlier, the mahagathbandhan was expected to have a common manifesto. "JMM is issuing its own document because it is a separate political entity. We (mahagathbandhan constituents) are separate entities working towards a common goal," explains Hemant.
To make up for the absence of star campaigners ahead of the April 29 polls, Congress has now decided to invite top leaders to its rallies. On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi addressed his maiden rally in the state at Simdega, which falls in Khunti constituency where Congress's Kalicharan Munda faces BJP strongman and former CM Arjun Munda. "Our list has names such as Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi. They will campaign for us in the next three phases," says Congress media in-charge Rajesh Thakur.