Party names candidates for six seats after the conclusion of discussion; the JMM is likely to field candidates in 41 seats, while the Congress says it will contest 30 seats; upset CPI decides to field candidates for 15 seats; rumblings begin in NDA as well
After the intervention of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, the party’s seat-sharing talks with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly election reached a conclusion on Tuesday. The RJD later named candidates for six seats, with both parties agreeing to contest the election in an alliance under the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance bloc.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav met Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday morning and they had a short discussion before holding talks with the Jharkhand leadership of the RJD.
Sources said that Mr. Prasad spoke to Mr. Soren over phone and talks were held between them for some time following which Mr. Soren agreed to give six seats to the RJD.
“People of Jharkhand will teach a lesson to the Bharatiya Janata Party which ruled the State for most number of years and ruined it. We all had talks with the respective leaders and decided to contest the election together as INDIA bloc. Once again, we will defeat BJP and Hemant Soren will become the Chief Minister,” Mr. Yadav told presspersons outside a hotel in Ranchi.
The RJD later released its list of its six candidates: Suresh Paswan from Deoghar, Sanjay Prasad Yadav from Godda, Subhas Yadav from Koderma, Rashmi Prakash (daughter-in-law of Satyanand Bhokta, MLA) from Chatra, Naresh Prasad Singh from Bishrampur, and Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav from Hussainabad.
The picture is now clear over the seat-sharing in the INDIA bloc as Jharkhand Congress State president Keshav Mahato Kamlesh, who returned to Ranchi from Delhi on Tuesday, made it clear that the Congress would contest 30 seats. The party had announced candidates for 21 seats on Monday.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) also announced the names of three candidates. Its fourth seat is probably Bagodar. The party has not yet cleared the name of sitting MLA Vinod Singh to contest the seat. The JMM will contest the remaining 41 seats, though the party has not made the formal announcement yet.
In the 2019 Assembly election, the JMM contested 43 seats and won 30; the Congress contested 31 and won 16; and the RJD contested seven but won only one.
Upset with not getting the desired number of seats in the INDIA bloc, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has decided to field candidates in 15 constituencies.
Rumblings has started in the National Democratic Alliance after many leaders did not get ticket. Several BJP leaders, including three former MLAs, joined the ruling JMM in the presence of Mr. Soren on Monday.
On Tuesday, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) central general secretary Tarun Gupta rebelled against NDA and announced his decision to contest the Assembly election from Jamtara seat.