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Congress Seals Deal With JVM, Gives 19 Seats

By ugesh sarkar, Section Top Stories
Posted on Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 12:22:44 AM EST

The Congress on Friday announced its alliance with Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. The pre-poll arrangement gives the JVM 19 seats, while the Congress will contest 55 seats; in the remaining seven seats, the two parties will have “friendly fights”.

The announcement was made jointly by the AICC in charge of Jharkhand K Keshava Rao and JVM chief Babulal Marandi here. The final arrangement gives the JVM just one more seat to contest than the 25 originally offered by Congress.

For the Congress, which suffers from an image deficit in the state, the deal with Mr Marandi was crucial. The Congress has been associated with corruption ridden regimes in the state. It had given outside support to the Madhu Koda government, the Shibu Soren-led JMM government and the period of President’s Rule under governor Sibtey Razi was also marked by corruption, charges that led to governor Razi’s transfer to Assam.

Mr Marandi’s period at the helm of affairs is regarded to have been the best in the short nine year history of the state, when development oriented work was undertaken. This, along with the former chief minister’s clean image, is what the Congress wants to leverage on. The Congress’ intentions are clear. “Mr Marandi is a clean man committed to stability”, Mr Rao said.

Source: Economic Times Congress seals deal with JVM, gives 19 seats

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At the same time the party has distanced itself from Madhu Koda, whose government it had propped up. The Congress has argued that it had given outside support to the Koda government and could not be blamed for his failure to deliver. AICC spokesman Manish Tewari said that the Congress extended support to “someone” on the premise that he will work for public welfare and development. “If someone has not delivered, the Congress cannot be blamed,” Mr Tewari said.

Drawing a veil over the party’s close association with corrupt regimes, the Congress sought present a forward looking plan that would give the people of the state a stable and corruption free government. “Instability has been the hallmark of the Jharkhand government. there have been six chief ministers in eight years. We will provide a stable government, declare a war on corruption and bring in inclusive growth and development,” Mr Rao said.

Mr Marandi said, “In nine years, the people of the state have been unhappy. We hope this coalition will get a mandate and provide a stable government in Jharkhand”. The former BJP chief minister, and now independent MP from Koderma, is giving outside support to the UPA government.

Taking the opportunity, Mr Marandi spoke on the Maoist violence that was rampant in his state. He said that a political initiative is necessary but those who are taking law into their hands must also be tackled.

The image prop up aside, the Congress hopes that the alliance will help draw on the tribal vote. It is the party’s understanding that the Congress along with the JVM would be able to make a dent in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s stronghold in Santhal Paragna where Shibu Soren had a considerable following. Mr Marandi too hails from this belt and his tenure as BJP CM is remembered for the pace of development work.

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