The Congress on Monday sought to assuage the feelings of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Left parties over the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha seat-sharing pact for the Jharkhand assembly polls.
It indicated a willingness to undertake 'some changes' (with respect to the Congress-JMM alliance in Jharkhand) and insisted that the party's alliance with the Lalu Prasad-led RJD in Bihar was 'intact'.
The party also said that framing of charges against JMM chief and Union Minister Shibu Soren in a 1974 murder case would not have any impact on the coming polls.
Replying to a volley of questions on seat-sharing in Jharkhand and Bihar, which will go to the polls in February, party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters that talks with RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad would be resumed on Tuesday after the return of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Delhi from Rae Bareli.
"The talks with the JMM are final. But one cannot rule out anything. There may be some changes," Sharma said dismissing suggestions that the Congress-JMM move to unilaterally finalise the seat-sharing arrangement smacked of authoritarian tendencies. The pact was based on the 'ground reality' in Jharkhand.
He downplayed the tussle between the Congress and its allies over seat sharing saying there were 'no differences or tussle' and everything was part of the democratic process.