New Delhi/Patna, Nov. 4: The BJP-led alliance in Jharkhand today appeared to have reached “a point of no return” after partner Janata Dal (United) named candidates in 18 of the 22 seats it has decided to contest in the elections beginning later this month.

The JD(U)’s tit-for-tat show of defiance came a day after the BJP announced the names of 59 candidates.

“Right now it seems the talks have broken down because we have not reached an agreement over seat-sharing,” JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav told reporters.

“Let’s see. The first chapter is over,” he said, asked if there was scope for reviving the negotiations. “But if the outcome is not positive for the opening phase, it seems unlikely things will suddenly start looking up.”

The BJP has not yet reacted officially to the JD(U)’s decision, but a source involved in the seat-share talks admitted to being “taken aback” by Yadav’s statement.

“Things have possibly reached a point of no return,” the BJP insider said. “The talks between the state units of the two sides were proceeding honourably. Although our parliamentary board had decided we should not give them (the JD-U) more than nine seats, we were still prepared to scale up their quota to save the alliance.

“Had a lesser functionary said what Yadav did, we would not have objected. Once the national president of the party makes an announcement, it’s like slamming a door shut on our faces.”

Observers in neighbouring Bihar, however, said it wasn’t the end of the road for the NDA alliance. “The JD(U)’s utterances can still be part of pressure tactics to extract the last pound of flesh,” said one, explaining that the ground reality in Jharkhand might eventually force a patch-up.

According to the observer, neither party could risk a break-up. While the JD(U) wasn’t in a position to fight alone because of its fragile support base in large parts of the state, the BJP could “ill-afford” to end a 13-year friendship with a party that was its ruling partner in Bihar.

Sources said the door had “not yet been shut finally” for there was still time left for withdrawing nominations for the November 25 vote, the first of the five-phase poll.

JD(U) sources said: their demand had been “reasonable” from the start. “We did not want the 18 seats we got last time. We would willingly have settled for 14 or 15 but the BJP was adamant on a maximum of 11. Had we agreed, our state unit would have said let’s wind up the party and sit at home.”

But a BJP source insisted that even a dozen seats were excessive. “It would have meant gifting away 12 seats straightaway to the Congress and the rest. The JD(U) doesn’t count for much in more than three seats.”

Asked if Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar would intervene, a BJP source said the JD(U) leader was “in the loop” all along. “Yadav would not have spoken today on his own.”