As the deadlock continued in the talks for a pre-poll tie-up between Congress and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) in Jharkhand, both the parties today came out with their first list of candidates for the coming assembly election, raising questions marks over the alliance.
Congress' released its first of 26 candidates today while Marandi's party announced the name of nine candidates late last night. "We were prepared either way...In an alliance and also outside it. We have been making preparations for Jharkhand for a while," Congress party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters here. He however, said, "till a final decision is taken (on an alliance with JVM) talks are on".
Party sources, however, said that talks between the two parties have reached a dead end as JVM President Babulal Marandi was insisting on at least 31 seats while Congress was willing to give not more than 25 seats.
"We have got feelers that if Marandi is projected as the leader of the alliance (chief ministerial candidate), he could settle for lesser number of seats. Congress cannot accept this position," a senior party leader associated with the developments in the state said.
Asked how would an alliance will fructify in the state when JVM has already announced nine candidates and the Congress 26, the leader said that there is still a week for the last date of filing nominations and situations change in politics within hours. AICC in-charge of the state K Keshav Rao had yesterday indicated that the party was going alone, saying, "as of now, we are alone".
Marandi, a former BJP chief minister, who is giving outside support to the UPA, enjoys a clean image in the state where two former chief ministers (Shibu Soren and Madhu Koda) are embroiled in a series of cases.
Meanwhile there was a minor fracas outside the AICC headquarters here when ticket seekers from the state beseized the vehicles of the state Screening Committee Chairman Mukul Wasnik and Keshav Rao. The ticket seekers complained about favouritism in the exercise to select candidates.
A meeting of the Central Election Committee, chaired by party President Sonia Gandhi was held yesterday for the finalisation of candidates for Jharkhand. Sources said while the names of the candidates were finalised they were held back till today due to the last ditch effort of the Congress to reach out to JVM to forge an alliance.
In the dissolved Assembly, Congress has eight MLAs in the 81-member House. In the Lok Sabha elections, the party managed to win only one of the 14 seats in the state while its principal opponent BJP won eight.
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