Ranchi: INDIA bloc parties – Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress- will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly polls together, Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced. Jharkhand will go to polls in two phases on November 13 and 20 and the counting of votes will be held on November 23 where the BJP along with its allies is looking to unseat Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led coalition government headed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
Soren on Saturday said that INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming assembly polls together and the Congress and the JMM will field candidates in 70 of 81 seats. Seat-sharing talks are on with alliance partners – the RJD and the Left parties – for the remaining 11 seats, the chief minister emphasized.
“INDIA bloc will contest the Jharkhand assembly polls together. It has been decided during the seat-sharing talks with the allies that the Congress and the JMM will field candidates in 70 of 81 seats,” Soren said after meeting with the partners of INDIA alliance in the state.
‘The other INDIA alliance partners will contest on rest of the seats. Details regarding who will contest from which seat will be provided later,” he added.
VIDEO | Jharkhand Assembly Election 2024: “As per the first round of talks, we have decided that Congress and JMM will contest on 70 seats in the state. The other INDIA alliance partners will contest on rest of the seats. Details regarding who will contest from which seat will be… pic.twitter.com/XUH8g0FxDd
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 19, 2024
NDA Firms Up Jharkhand Gameplan
INDIA bloc’s seat-sharing announcement comes a day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma revealed NDA’s game plan for the upcoming assembly polls. Sarma announced that as per the seat-sharing arrangement, the BJP will contest in 68 seats while the AJSU party will contest in 10 seats. NDA partners JDU and LJP will contest in two and one seats respectively.
The seat-sharing announcement was made by Sarma in a joint presser along with Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former CM Babulal Marandi and AJSU chief Sudesh Kumar Mahato.
What Happened In 2019 Jharkhand Polls?
In the 2019 assembly polls, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won 47 seats, above the 41-seat majority mark, and 35.4% of the vote share. Hemant Soren became the CM for the second time and was set to be only the second CM to complete a full term until his arrest earlier this year. The BJP, which contested the 2019 state polls alone after failing to reach an agreement with the AJSU, won 25 seats and 33.4% of the vote share.
The JMM was the single-largest party, with 30 seats, followed by the BJP and Congress at 16. While the AJSU won 8.1% of the votes and the JVM 5.5%, the parties managed two and three seats, respectively.
