INDIA Bloc partners may see a ‘friendly fight’ in three Jharkhand seats

The elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20.

Ranchi:

INDIA alliance partners in Jharkhand are ready for a “friendly fight” on three seats in the upcoming assembly elections, leaders said on Saturday.

JMM and CPI-ML have already decided to have a friendly fight in Dhanwar Assembly seat while Congress and RJD are still trying to avoid a friendly fight in Chhattarpur and Bishrampur seats, they said at a joint press conference here.

The elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with counting of votes taking place on November 23.

As many as 1,211 candidates are in the fray for the 81 seats in the Assembly after the completion of withdrawal of nominations for both phases of the elections.

The JMM has fielded candidates on 43 Assembly seats, Congress on 30 seats, RJD on six and CPI-ML on four seats.

“JMM, Congress, RJD and CPI-ML are jointly contesting the Jharkhand elections under the INDIA bloc. Barring three seats – Chhatarpur, Bishrampur and Dhanwar – seat-sharing arrangements have been made for all constituencies in the alliance. The JMM has decided to go for a friendly contest with CPI-ML in Dhanwar seat,” JMM General Secretary Vinod Pandey told reporters.

RJD and Congress have fielded their candidates from Chhatarpur and Bishrampur seats.

“Discussions are still ongoing to resolve the issue for both seats. We hope to see a result in a day or two,” Mr Pandey said, adding that the RJD got six seats while the CPI-ML got three seats. under the INDIA block.

Jharkhand Congress President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh said they would jointly contest the elections and form an INDIA alliance government again.

The INDIA bloc has not yet officially announced its seat-sharing arrangements.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had said on October 19 that the INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming assembly elections together and the Congress and the JMM will nominate candidates for 70 of the 81 seats.

The remaining eleven seats would be left for the RJD and the Left parties, he had said.

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