By IANS,
Ranchi : The Congress Saturday expressed unhappiness over the changing stance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), saying it would harm the prospects of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the state for the Lok Sabha polls.
Pradeep Balmuchu, state Congress president, told reporters here that the statement of JMM leader Durga Soren was a setback for the UPA. On Friday, Soren said that any seat sharing agreement with the Congress would be finalised only after a JMM nominee is administered the chief minister’s oath.
“Such statements will harm the prospect of the UPA in the state,” said Balmuchu.
“Everything related to seat sharing has been finalised with the JMM,” he said.
Early this week, the Congress and JMM announced an agreement to share seats. As per the formula, the JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will contest on four, six and two seats Lok Sabha seats respectively. Candidates for the other two seats would be decided later. Jharkhand has 14 Lok Sabha seats.
Hemlal Murmu, JMM Lok Sabha MP, was nominated by JMM chief Shibu Soren to finalise the seat sharing issue, said Balmuchu. “We hope the formula decided by the UPA partners will be respected by the JMM,” he said.
Early this week, Murmu had announced that the seat sharing issue has been resolved and the JMM will remain a part of UPA. However, three days later, Shibu Soren’s eldest son Durga Soren denied that any alliance has been finalised.