RANCHI: INDIA bloc parties in Jharkhand slammed Election Commission (EC) for holding assembly elections in the state along with that of Maharashtra but claimed that they were ready to slug it out with BJP-led NDA, which has welcomed the announcement of poll dates.
JMM, Congress, and CPI (ML-L) said the announcement showed that EC was in a hurry to conduct elections though the assembly tenure was due to end in January next year.
“We had, in our meeting with the CEC and other delegates, urged them to call the elections after statehood day (November 15). Navratri ended days ago and Diwali and Chhath, the two biggest festivals of the state, will take place prior to the elections. The electorate will be greatly inconvenienced,” JMM general secretary-cum-spokesperson Vinod Kumar Pandey said, adding, “But having said that, we are ready.”
Both INDIA bloc and BJP-led NDA are expected to get into huddles to discuss the modalities of seat-sharing which is going to be a challenge for both the competing teams.
“Ajsu-P, BJP ally in Jharkhand, has demanded nine seats. Likewise, LJP (Ram Vilas) and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM are also demanding seats. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is keen to contest in Jamshedpur (East) and Tamar,” a senior BJP functionary in Ranchi told TOI.
For INDIA bloc also, seat-sharing is a tricky affair. JMM, which contested 43 out of 81 assembly seats in 2019, is eyeing the biggest chunk of seats this time as well. Congress, the second biggest party in the bloc in the state, is eyeing an increase in their seats. “In 2019, we contested 31 seats. But this time, we are eyeing 33 seats given that two seats, Poreiyahat and Mandu, came to our kitty,” a senior Congress neta, who is in the thick of things, told TOI.
RJD, which fielded candidates in seven seats five years ago, is eyeing 10 seats. The Left, which was not in Mahagathbandhan in 2019, is eyeing a minimum of six seats.
However, when contacted, JMM’s Vinod Kumar Pandey said, “We will soon sit together with our allies and finalize the seats.” State Congress chief Keshav Mahto Kamlesh too expressed confidence to seal the seat-sharing deal at the earliest.