Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant SorenThe opposition parties in Jharkhand have decided to contest together the Assembly elections due later this year, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president Hemant Soren said on Wednesday. The parties reached the decision after a meeting on Wednesday held at Soren’s residence in Ranchi and attended by representatives of the RJD, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and the Congress.
“We have a consensus that we should fight together to root out the BJP and the Raghubar Das government. In the next week or so, we will decide on the distribution of tickets,” Soren said.
State Congress president Dr Ajoy Kumar and JVM-P chief Babulal Marandi did not attend the meeting. Soren said, “I can’t say due to what situations they did not attend.”
BJP starts work, Oppn still unsure
At a time when the opposition parties are yet to fully recover from the Lok Sabha poll rout and chalk out a joint strategy, the BJP has set a target to win 65 out of the 81 seats Assembly seats and has already started working on the ground and reaching out to welfare scheme beneficiaries. In the recently-held parliamentary polls, the Cong managed to win just one out of the seven seats it contested and the JMM managed one out of the four seats it contested. The JVM(P) drew a blank.
Soren said all the parties will contest seats they currently hold. “We have 32 seats between us. A decision will be taken regarding the rest.”
The JMM holds 19 Assembly seats, the Congress nine and the JVM two out of the 81 seats that will go to polls.
State Congress spokesperson Rajesh Thakur said “nothing is final”. “The decision to go together was announced before the parliamentary elections. But our state chief Dr Ajoy Kumar was not at the meeting. The JVM-P too was not there. Nothing is final and a decision will be taken within 15 days,” said Thakur.
