Another blow to the already declining national standing of the Congress Party in 2025 is about to come. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government led by Hemant Soren is quietly preparing for one of the sharpest political U-turns in recent history: shaking hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party by showing its INDIA bloc ally, the Congress, the door. Trusted sources in the capital have confirmed that Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been in Delhi for the past three days and is directly interacting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The message emerging from these confidential meetings is clear: JMM is ready to switch sides, provided the BJP either supports the government from outside or joins it. Soren’s anger flows from what he sees as the neglectful attitude of the Congress high command during the Bihar Assembly elections.
More than 30 seats in Bihar are significantly influenced by tribal votes. When JMM asked for at least 6 seats, Congress leaders avoided the issue, saying, “RJD is the big brother in Bihar, it will decide.” In the end, RJD did not give JMM even a single seat. To make matters worse, Congress’s Bihar in-charge and AICC General Secretary Krishna Allavaru remained missing in action throughout, neither meeting anyone nor trying to coordinate with alliance partners. Soren’s close associates say the Chief Minister considered this a deliberate insult. The numbers in Ranchi tell their own stark story. The current position in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly is: JMM – 29 MLAs; Congress – 16 MLAs; RJD – 4 MLAs; Others – a few independents and smaller parties.
The majority mark is 42. If Congress (16) and RJD (4) walk out, the alliance will immediately fall below the majority. On the other hand, the BJP has 21 MLAs after the 2024 elections. A new coalition will easily cross 42 as soon as the BJP supports JMM in place of Congress and RJD, and if 6–8 Congress MLAs also break away (which, according to sources, is almost certain), the tally could rise to beyond 50.
The news is that a formal split is being engineered in the Congress Legislature Party and at least 6–8 Congress MLAs are sitting ready to become ministers in the new Soren government. The responsibility for handling this entire crisis has once again been placed on Rahul Gandhi’s trusted IAS officer, Nav Ratan Raju, who is in charge of Jharkhand. Inside the party, the question being asked is: when the numbers have turned adverse and trust has evaporated, what magic can Raju really work? For the Congress, which is already able to run its own government in just three states, the fall of Jharkhand will be another humiliating blow. It will be a strong symbolic setback coming just weeks after defeats in Maharashtra and Bihar.
Today’s news is that Hemant Soren is returning to Ranchi tomorrow morning. He has one last big meeting left in Delhi. After that, he can call a late-night meeting of the JMM Legislature Party and start the final game. If this gamble is played, the INDIA bloc’s calculations in yet another state will become meaningless, and mineral-rich Jharkhand — which slipped from the BJP’s hands five years ago — will once again fall into its lap. Keep an eye out. The politics of this tribal state is echoing like a Santhal drum, and the Congress’s last dance in Ranchi is on the verge of ending.
Renu Mittal
Renu Mittal is a veteran Journalist of India. She has been reporting on the Congress Party affairs since 1983.
