RANCHI: With the deadline to secure a respectable number of seats in the Bihar Assembly polls looming, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is set to contest the elections independently. According to party insiders, JMM's patience is wearing thin over the INDIA bloc's failure to allocate a satisfactory number of seats, despite their repeated assertions of contesting around 12 seats in the upcoming polls.
The final announcement of candidates, however, will be made very soon by the party. Party General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya announced on Saturday that JMM will be fielding its candidates on Chakai, Dhamdaha, Katoria, Pirpainti, Manihari, and Jamui Assembly seats. All six constituencies fall under the second phase of the Bihar Assembly polls, they said.
“We will contest the Bihar Assembly polls with full dedication to win all the seats which we are contesting,” said Bhattacharya. The party will make it sure that the next government in Bihar cannot be formed without JMM, he added. Bhattacharya said that the number of seats may also go up to 10 as they are still reviewing the situation.
JMM took this decision after the nomination process for the first phase concluded on Friday. Initially, JMM was willing to contest for 16 seats, but later the party said that it is prepared to contest for 12 seats.
JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey and Minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu also visited Patna on October 7 and met with RJD leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand in-charge Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, Bhola Yadav, and other senior leaders to make them aware about their intentions.
Despite a prolonged meeting, no consensus was reached, and the JMM delegation returned to Ranchi. During a meeting with RJD leaders, the JMM reportedly demanded seven assembly seats, though indications suggest that the RJD may concede only two. The final seat-sharing arrangement within the INDIA bloc is yet to be decided.
Subsequently, JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya warned that if the party was not allotted 12 seats by October 15, it would go alone in Bihar. After waiting two more days, JMM officially decided on October 18 to contest independently on six seats.
Defending its demand, JMM leaders pointed out that the RJD had been allotted six assembly seats in the Jharkhand elections held in November 2024. Out of Jharkhand’s 81 Assembly seats, the RJD contested six and won four. Following the formation of the Hemant Soren-led JMM government, RJD’s Godda MLA Sanjay Prasad Yadav was inducted into the Cabinet.
Analysts pointed out that the six seats chosen by JMM are areas where the party enjoys a moderate presence. Therefore, JMM’s independent contest is expected to impact the vote share of Mahagathbandhan candidates on those seats. Notably, seat-sharing disputes have already led to friction among the RJD, Congress, VIP and CPI in about eight to nine constituencies across Bihar, and hence the JMM might have decided to go it alone in Bihar.
