New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The Congress Friday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for the continuing political stalemate in Jharkhand, saying it was trying to take the chief minister's chair by seizing on an "innocent mistake" of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Shibu Soren.

"The BJP is taking mileage out of an innocent error of the JMM chief. They are using it to take get hold on power," Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS.

Soren voted for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) during the cut motions in the budget session of parliament April 27. The BJP decided to withdraw its support to the JMM-led government but did not implement its decision after it was offered the post of chief minister by a section of JMM leadership.

Ahmed said people of Jharkhand were suffering due to "lack of governance" in the state and the BJP and JMM should sort out their differences quickly.

He did not rule out the Congress exploring the possibility of government formation if the JMM and BJP failed to reach an understanding on sharing power.

Congress MP from Jharkhand Mabel Rebello told IANS that the political situation in Jharkhand was "messy".

She said the Congress will take an interest in government formation only if the arrangement between the JMM and the BJP collapsed.

"We are not exploring the options at all. If the government falls, then we will explore the possibility," she said.

The latest row in the protracted power-sharing talks between the BJP and JMM surfaced after Soren said Thursday that he will not resign as chief minister despite the terms agreed by the two parties. Both the BJP and the JMM May 18 jointly announced they would share power in rotation for the remainder of the state assembly term with a BJP chief minister replacing Soren.