Snapping of ties with JMM cost us dear: Senior Congress leader Subodhkant Sahay

NEW DELHI: Daggers are out in Congress over poor Assembly poll results in Jharkhand with a senior party leader alleging that "individual interests of state leaders" cost the party dear, as they did not allow the alliance with JMM to continue for the polls.

"When you are running a coalition government and then all of a sudden it is broken to protect individual interests, you have to pay a price. Without realising implications of breaking the alliance, some leaders pushed for going alone just to further their interests," former Union Minister Subodhkant Sahay told PTI.

He said that alliance was going on well and had it been in the place, we would have formed the government.

"Even now, the combined seats of JMM, Congress and RJD is around 30. The state leadership told the high command that Congress stands to gain if it fights alone. The Central leadership said that it will go by the decision by the state leaders," Sahay added.

He said that while the "need of the hour was to keep together secular forces", the alliance was broken at the insistence of some state leaders, who were interested in some particular seats for themselves and their wards.

"When we had finalised the alliance in July last year, it was not done to form a government in the state and participate in it for one and half year.

"It was a political alliance, which had to continue in the long run. And announcements were also made in this regard.

"But all of a sudden, some leaders insisted on calling of the alliance with JMM," he said.

Sahay at the same time said that leaders from parties like JMM and RJD also contributed to the bickering of the alliance and finally "it was free for all".

Sources say that while Sahay and AICC general secretary in-charge for the state, B K Hariprasad, favoured alliance, PCC chief Sukhdev Bhagat, CLP leader Rajendra Prasad Singh, former PCC chief Pradip Balmuchu, Furqan Ansari and others felt that Congress is not getting adequate number of winnable seats in the alliance and going alone will be better for the party in the long run.