After unexpectedly tasting power in Maharashtra, the Congress appears to prefer piggybacking on regional players to power its way to government in state elections. Its strategy seems to have paid dividends if the Jharkhand assembly election results are any indication.

In Jharkhand, the Congress had stitched up a pre-poll alliance where it made way for regional party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to take the lead. While the JMM got to contest 43 seats, the Congress contented itself with 31 seats and the RJD was allotted 7 seats.

"There is no-doubt about it, Hemant Soren will be the CM. We have assured him (Soren) even before we forged the alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)," R.P.N. Singh, Congress in-charge Jharkhand, told the media in Ranchi on Monday.

The Congress has recently formed the government in Maharashtra, as the third member of a three party post-poll alliance in which the Shiv Sena and NCP call the shots. Earlier, in Karnataka too, the Congress had formed government with the Janata Dal (S).

The JMM/Cong/ RJD alliance is set to comfortably cross the halfway mark in the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly. The five-phase assembly elections in Jharkhand began on November 20 and ended on December 20.