Two allies appear to be moving as foes in Jharkhand. This became evident today when conflict within Jharkhand’s ruling alliance became public over the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress have clearly locked horns over seat-sharing.

This happened after Congress President Kharge reportedly called the JMM chief and Chief Minister Hemant Soren and sought approval for permitting the grand old party to field candidate for one seat.

According to a report, Soren preferred not to reply while the Congress announced Pranav Jha as its candidate for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

Next, the JMM has now reportedly decided that the party would field candidates for both seats.

A meeting of JMM legislators and senior leaders was held at the residence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and the MLAs authorised Soren, who is also JMM’s Executive President, to take a final call on the matter.

After the meeting, party leaders Yogendra Prasad and Hafizul Hasan told the media that there was a unanimous view among MLAs that the JMM should contest both seats. They added that the names of the party’s candidates would be announced before June 8.

JMM leaders said that as the largest political party in the state, it has a natural claim over both seats. The party’s stance comes at a time when the Congress had, late on Thursday night, announced Pranav Jha -- an AICC secretary and political adviser to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge -- as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand.

Against this backdrop, it is understood that a consensus had not been reached within the alliance on seat-sharing.

Alongside, the JMM’s decision has reflected disunity and brought to the surface long-simmering differences between the two allies- JMM and Congress.

Earlier, Congress President Kharge had spoken with Chief Minister Soren two days before the candidate announcement. Earlier, Congress’s Jharkhand in-charge K. Raju and Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had visited Ranchi recently and urged the Chief Minister to allot one Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress.

Despite these efforts, the JMM staking claim to both seats has exposed cracks within the ruling alliance.

While the Congress has shown no signs of backing down after naming its candidate, the JMM too appears unwilling to let go of either seat.

The ruling alliance has the numbers in the Jharkhand Assembly to win both seats, but the standoff over candidates has raised questions over its unity. 

With the nomination process underway, the tussle between the two allies has become the dominant political development in the state. The attention now shifts to the next move of Hemant Soren and the Congress leadership.

On the other hand, the BJP is gearing up to field one candidate for two of total 24 Rajya Sabha seats. The poll will be held on June 18.And the last date of filling nomination is June 8.