JMM-Congress to contest 70 seats in Jharkhand; RJD disappointed over 'unilateral' announcement

Jharkhand will vote in two phases on November 13 and 20. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and party leader Rahul Gandhi meets Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife and JMM leader Kalpana Soren, in New Delhi recently.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and party leader Rahul Gandhi meets Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife and JMM leader Kalpana Soren, in New Delhi recently.ANI
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RANCHI: Fissures have surfaced in the INDIA bloc as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress on Saturday announced their decision to contest 70 of the 81 assembly seats together as the state braced up for the forthcoming assembly polls.

The rest of the 11 seats will be shared between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and left parties, said Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the presence of Jharkhand Congress in-charge Gulam Ahmad Mir, and senior state minister Rameshwar Oraon.

Jharkhand will vote in two phases on November 13 and 20. Votes will be counted on November 23.

The announcement was made following a meeting between the senior JMM and the Congress leaders to put up a united front against the ruling BJP.

According to Congress insiders, the 11 seats reserved for the RJD and left parties are for the segments where they have a strong presence. The leaders believe that this collaborative effort will consolidate voter support and establish a robust opposition front, they said.

RJD unhappy

RJD, however, is not said to be happy over the announcement of seat sharing among the INDIA bloc.

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha while talking to the media persons in Ranchi, said that the way JMM and the Congress unilaterally decided on the alliance is not right.

According to Jha, despite Tejashwi Yadav being present in Ranchi, he was not informed about the announcement to be made regarding the alliance.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and party leader Rahul Gandhi meets Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife and JMM leader Kalpana Soren, in New Delhi recently.
NDA reaches seat-sharing consensus for Jharkhand Assembly elections

“Congress and JMM unilaterally announced an alliance on 70 seats giving us only 5 seats, whereas in 2019 our candidates remained at number two on 5 seats,” said Jha.

"We are capable of contesting alone on more than a dozen seats in Jharkhand," he added.

Earlier on Friday, NDA also reached consensus over seat sharing formula in Jharkhand. According to the formula, AJSU party will contest on 10 seats, JD (U) on two seats and Lok Janshakti Party Chirag Paswan faction will contest on one seat, while the BJP will contest on the remaining 68 Assembly seats. In a joint press conference organised at State BJP office in Ranchi, Assam Chief Minister and co-election in-charge for Jharkhand on Friday, Himanta Biswa Sharma said that they will work together as NDA from now onwards and not as individual parties like BJP or AJSU.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and party leader Rahul Gandhi meets Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife and JMM leader Kalpana Soren, in New Delhi recently.
BJP will be wiped out from Jharkhand after assembly elections: Hemant Soren

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