JMM-Cong to contest in 70, remaining seats for RJD, Left
Ranchi, October 19: INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly polls together, Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced today. The Congress and ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha will field candidates in 70 of the 81 assembly segments, he said.
However, the statements led to remarks of “unilateral” decision by alliance partner RJD showing rift in the INDIA bloc over seat sharing.
“We can’t go into the details of the seat-sharing right now. Our alliance partner is not here right now. When they are here, we will finalise the number of seats and other details,” Mr Soren told reporters, adding seat-sharing talks are on with other alliance partners – RJD and Left parties – for the remaining 11 segments.
Jharkhand will vote in two phases on November 13 and 20. Votes will be counted on November 23.
In the last elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM had contested 43 seats while Congress contested 31 seats. But this time around, the Congress is likely to get somewhere between 27 to 28 seats, sources said.
The JMM is expected to increase its share because it believes that Hemant Soren is a key face in Jharkhand and the grand alliance will get votes on his name, they added.
According to the sources, the Communist Party of India (M-L) and Marxist Coordination Committee (MMC) also want to join forces with the JMM and Congress in this election. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which fought on seven seats in the last assembly polls, is expected to contest fewer seats this time and agree to give the Bagodar seat to CPI (M-L) and Nirsa to MMC, they added.
Asserting that several options are open for Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the party expressed displeasure over the seat-sharing arrangement announced by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress for Jharkhand assembly elections earlier today. RJD claimed that the party has strong contenders on 15-18 seats against BJP in the state.
Calling it a “unilateral” decision by the two parties, RJD spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha slammed the JMM-Congress announcement. “All options open for us. All decisions cannot be taken instantly like ‘2 minutes’ noodles,”
“Our presence in different districts is very strong, we will urge our alliance partners to take a decision accordingly. Our in-charge is here, our state president is here and since yesterday our leader of opposition Tejashwi ji himself is here…Despite everyone being there, if you did not involve us in the process of allying, then it is painful,” said Jha.
In the 2019 Assembly polls, the JMM won 30 of the 81 seats, the Congress 16 and the RJD won one seat. The three parties formed a coalition government with a comfortable majority. The BJP won 25 seats, down from 37 in 2014, while the AJSU Party, contesting alone, ended up winning two seats.
