RANCHI: In a renewed push to secure one Rajya Sabha seat for the Congress party, Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju, accompanied by Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, met Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday and reiterated their claim for a seat.
During the meeting, they also conveyed the message of the Congress High Command to the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister is expected to consider the request, with a final discussion likely to take place within a day or two, they said. Meanwhile, JMM leaders continued to maintain that the party intends to contest both Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand this time.
Following a meeting that lasted nearly two hours, Congress leaders, while coming out of the Chief Minister’s residence, said that the entire session was highly positive and that both parties were aligned on one key objective, ensuring the defeat of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. They added that everything would be decided within a day or two.
“The Chief Minister has said that he will think about it and then will discuss with the High Command on the issue in a day or two. Only after which, we will get to know about it,” said K Raju.
“The only objective is to defeat the BJP and secure both seats to Congress-JMM alliance in Jharkhand,” he added.
Raju further added that the Congress High Command’s only objective is that both Rajya Sabha seats should go into the account of the Congress-JMM alliance.
“The Congress High Command has only objective that both Rajya Sabha seats should go into the account of Congress-JMM alliance,” said Raju.
Mallu Bhatti also asserted that the discussion with Chief Minister Hemant Soren was very fruitful and said that he will come back to them with a proper strategy.
Talking to media persons regarding the meeting held at the Chief Minister’s residence in connection with the voting scheduled in the state on June 18, Congress leader Pradeep Yadav said that a frank discussion took place and that the Chief Minister’s outlook and views align perfectly with those of the Congress party. Former minister Pradeep Yadav further added that, given the current circumstances, a strategy has been formulated to determine how both seats can be won.
“There are no issues regarding the first seat; however, regarding the second seat, and specifically how to ensure that all 28 of our MLAs remain united, a strategy has been devised and the responsibility for this has been entrusted to the Chief Minister,” said Yadav.
Notably, elections for two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand are scheduled to take place in June this year.
One of these seats has remained vacant since the demise of Dishom Guru Shibu Soren last year, while the other seat is set to fall vacant as the tenure of BJP leader Deepak Prakash comes to an end.
The ruling alliance led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren currently holds 56 seats in the 81-member Assembly, with 34 MLAs, the JMM is the largest constituent of the alliance, while the Congress, with 16 MLAs, stands as the second-largest partner.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal stands third with four seats, while CPI (ML) has two MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly.
The NDA, on the other hand, holds 24 seats with BJP’s 21, LJP’s 1, AJSU’s 1, JDU’s 1, and others’ 1.