No Haryana-like factionalism in state unit; pro-incumbency for INDIA: Ghulam Ahmad Mir

New Delhi/Ranchi: Exuding confidence of a strong performance by the Congress in the assembly polls, AICC Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Tuesday asserted that unlike Haryana, there was no factionalism in the state unit and all decisions in the run up to the elections were taken by consensus among senior leaders.

He said Haryana is not comparable with any other stated and also pointed to the complaints filed by the Congress with the Election Commission on the polls process there.

In an interview with PTI, the Congress general secretary also claimed that there was a "pro-incumbency" in favour of Jharkhand's INDIA bloc government which was moving forward under the leadership of Hemant Soren, while the BJP had "headless voices" with no one projected to lead the state.

Mir exuded confidence that the JMM-Congress-RJD-CPI(ML) alliance would do better than the last polls and could go beyond the 50-seat mark in the 81-member assembly.

While Jharkhand had won 30 seats, the Congress had won 16 and the RJD had emerged victorious on one seat in the 2019 assembly polls in Jharkhand. The CPI(ML), which had contested separately, had won just one seat.

The Congress general secretary also hit out at the prime minister for his 'ek rahoge toh safe rahoge (united we remain safe)' remarks, saying, "no one would have thought that the PM of the country would stoop to such levels".

"There is also a dispute among them, while (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath says 'batoge toh katoge', PM says 'ek rahoge toh safe rahoge', first they should decide whose slogan they want to proceed with," Mir told PTI.

Asked if the shock defeat in Haryana could have a negative impact on Jharkhand polls, the Congress leader said Haryana has a politics of its own which cannot be compared with any other state in the country.

"Various factions existed within the party in Haryana and there was an impact of factionalism there, hence consensus could not be reached on choice of candidates and there were also fingers raised (and matters taken up) with the EC.…but in Jharkhand, there is no factionalism within the Congress," Mir said.

The process of electioneering was built on consensus right from block, district to the Pradesh Congress Committee level, he said.

"In all decisions, we moved forward with the consensus of senior leaders. Therefore you would not have heard in Jharkhand that 'their people got more, our people got less'...there are no candidates of leaders but only of the Congress. That is the first difference," he asserted.

"There (Haryana) we were in the opposition and here we have been in the alliance government for five years. The alliance had delivered on schemes and the impact is being felt on the ground which can be seen in the people's response," he said.

In the Haryana polls last month, the BJP, with 48 seats, halted the Congress' comeback attempt and proved several exit polls wrong, which had predicted a comfortable win for the grand old party. The Congress managed to muster 37 seats in the 90-member assembly.

Mir said governments usually face anti-incumbency but in Jharkhand there is pro-incumbency.

On one hand, the alliance is moving forward under the leadership of Hemant Soren and on the other side, there are "headless voices", he said.

"They (BJP) have not projected anyone, they don't have trust in their leaders. They have not projected anyone who will lead Jharkhand for five years. While we have a progressive agenda and guarantees, the BJP has jumlas," he alleged.

On the BJP's promise of implementing the Uniform Civil Code in Jharkhand while keeping tribals out of its ambit, the Congress leader dismissed it as a bid at polarisation.

"In so many states where they had talked about UCC, have they implemented it there? Himanta Biswa Sarma had talked about it in Assam, have they implemented it there? If they have such a desire then they are attacking the culture here. They want to attack the tribal culture here and tribals understand that," Mir said He accused the BJP of only working on polarisation and not have a progressive plan.

On Home Minister Amit Shah raising the issue of infiltration, Mir said the country had given the BJP responsibility for 10 years and it was his job to prevent infiltration, keep the border safe and secure people.

"By saying all this he is accepting that 'I am a failed ruler'," Mir said.

"These are all jumlas. After polling they will say these are all jumlas. They are never serious about people's causes," he said.

He also dismissed talk of cracks in the alliance in Jharkhand over seat sharing, saying there were no issues and everything was finalised amicably.

"Alliance is united, there is no bickering among alliance partners and everyone is campaigning for each other. The JMM is campaigning for the Congress and other alliance partners. The chief minister's wife is reaching all parts of Jharkhand. RJD's Tejashwi (Yadav) is campaigning for JMM and in other seats. The Congress is also campaigning for all," Mir said.

According to the INDIA bloc seat sharing, Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is contesting on 43 seats, while the Congress has field candidates on 30 seats. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is contesting six seats, and CPI (ML) has fielded candidates on four seats. There are some seats on which there would be friendly fights among the alliance partners.

Jharkhand goes to polls on November 13 and 20 in two phases. The results would be announced on June 23.