Congress has habit of demanding more seats than its capabilities: CPIM's Subhashini Ali ahead of Jharkhand polls

New Delhi [India], October 21 : Expressing dissatisfaction over the current seat-sharing arrangement of the INDIA bloc for the Jharkhand Assembly elections, CPI(M) Politburo member Subhashini Ali said on Monday that the Congress party has a 'habit' of demanding more seats than its 'capabilities'.
The INDIA bloc in Jharkhand includes the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and the Left parties. The RJD and Left parties have expressed 'dissatisfaction' over the seat-sharing of the alliance announced on Saturday by the JMM and Congress.
She further said that the era when people used to give votes in the name of Congress is gone, adding that an alliance should contest the election together.
Speaking to ANI, Subhashini Ali said, "As far as seats-sharing is concerned, there are disputes within a party as well. So, when there are different parties, issues arise at the time of seat sharing. There are a few parties that have the habit of demanding more than their capabilities. Perhaps the major one among them is the Congress party."
"So, you will find this issue occurring with them almost everywhere. They too should understand that the time when votes were garnered in the name of Congress is gone. These are different times. It is the alliance that gets votes. So, an alliance should stay an alliance, and they should contest the election together--be it Maharashtra or Jharkhand," she added.
On Saturday, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, accompanied by Jharkhand Congress in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir announced that the JMM and the Congress would share 70 seats between them, and the RJD and Left parties would split the remaining 11.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha on Sunday criticized the "unilateral decision" of the Congress-JMM alliance.
He further said that while the RJD agrees with the aim of defeating the BJP, it does not support the current seat-sharing arrangement.
"Talks were held in a cordial atmosphere the day before yesterday (for the 2024 elections). Hemant Soren was present there. Emphasis was laid on the fact that we have to contest together. But a unilateral decision was taken yesterday, it was said that 7 seats are being given. When we met them again later in the evening, which I do not consider to be very cordial, the number of seats was lowered to 3-4," Jha said during a press conference in Ranchi.
He said that such a limited number of seats is unacceptable to the party and that, "3-4 seats are acceptable neither to our workers nor our voters, and not to our leaders."
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its first list of 66 candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly elections on Saturday.
The party's state chief, Babulal Marandi, will contest from Dhanwar, Lobin Hembrom from Borio, and Sita Soren from Jamtara. Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Champai Soren has been nominated as the candidate from Saraikella, Geeta Balmuchu from Chaibasa, Geeta Koda from Jaganathpur, and Meera Munda, the wife of Union Minister Arjun Munda will contest from Potka.
Voting for the 81 seats of the Jharkhand assembly will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with votes to be counted on November 23.