RANCHI: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will be contesting Bihar Assembly polls together with RJD under Mahagathbandhan.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren called on jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav at Kelly Bungalow of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi on Saturday and claimed that a blueprint was being prepared for contesting Bihar Polls together under the grand alliance.
“A blueprint is being prepared for contesting Bihar polls together,” said Soren. Details on the role played by each of the parties will be discussed later on suitable platform by the people already authorized for the purpose, he added.
Asked on how many seats the JMM will be fielding its candidates in Bihar, Soren said, “Wait for some more time to know who will be contesting on how many seats and from where?"
JMM, which had given seven seats to RJD in the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections under the grand alliance and also provided ministerial berth to the lone RJD MLA Satyanand Bhokta, had staked its claim over 12 seats for Bihar Assembly polls. According to JMM General Secretary and party spokesperson Supriyo
Bhattacharya, the claim is being made on the basis of a survey conducted recently, which indicated that the party can directly prove to be beneficial for RJD on at least 40 seats.
According to Bhattacharya, JMM had given 7 seats to RJD in the 2019 Assembly polls and expects similar generosity from it in Bihar.
Incidentally, the Election Commission of India had frozen JMM’s symbol – bow and arrow -- in Bihar before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls following a complaint lodged by Nitish Kumar’s Janta Dal (United), saying that it may create confusion among the voters as symbols of both the parties looked similar.
Assembly seats where JMM wants to field its candidates are Tarapur, Kataria (ST), Manihari (ST), Banka, Thakurganj, Jhajha, Rupauli, Pranpur, Banmankhi, Jamalpur, Peerpaiti, and Chakai. The party had won the Chakai Assembly seat in 2005.