Soren-Cong alliance gets a son-stroke

NEW DELHI: The tenuous nature of the Congress-JMM alliance in Jharkhand was driven home yet again over the weekend when Mr Durga Soren, the elder son of former chief minister Shibu Soren, filed his nomination paper from Godda on Saturday.

Mr Durga Soren said he had decided to enter the electoral fray to avenge his father���s defeat in by-election to the Tamar assembly seat earlier this year.

Even though the JMM chief, who���s presently convalescing in a private hospital in Capital, hurriedly issued a disclaimer later, contending that Mr Durga Soren was not his party���s official candidate, the fragile nature of the alliance forged by the two parties was again on display. There is a lingering suspicion in the Congress camp that move had the blessings of the JMM leadership.

The Godda Lok Sabha constituency was won by Congress��� Furqaan Ansari in 2004, and he has been renominated by the party from the seat. By throwing his hat in the ring, Mr Durga Soren, political observers argue, will only end up eating into the alliance���s vote.

Godda is not the only constituency in Jharkhand where the Congress-JMM alliance has come under strain. Unable to hammer out a consensus over Hazaribagh and Koderma, the two parties have entered into friendly fight in the two constituencies.

In keeping with the seat-sharing pact arrived at between the leaders of the two parties, Congress has decided to field its candidates from seven seats in Jharkhand, leaving five for JMM. There was no unanimity on the remaining two seats ��� Koderma and Hazaribagh. The fact that the two parties will be crossing swords with each other three constituencies has left their followers befuddled. The fact that Mr Shibu Soren, who���s missing from the political scene because of his ailment, has not helped matters either.

In the 2004 general election, the Congress and the JMM had roped the RJD and the CPI in to form a formidable anti-BJP alliance in Jharkhand. The saffron outfit suffered a rout, having been forced to rest content with just one seat���Koderma.