Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced Saturday that partners in the INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming assembly polls together, with the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) set to field candidates in 70 of the 81 seats.
Soren stated that seat-sharing discussions with alliance partners, including the RJD and Left parties, are ongoing for the remaining 11 seats. The assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and November 20, with counting taking place on November 23.
“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 alliance partners.
He expressed confidence that the JMM-led alliance would retain power in the state due to its development efforts.
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The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced its seat-sharing formula on Friday, with the BJP contesting 68 seats, the AJSU Party 10, the JD(U) 2, and the LJP (Ram Vilas) 1. Filing of nomination papers for the 43 assembly constituencies going to polls in the first phase on November 13 began Friday and will continue until October 25.
In the 2019 elections, the JMM-led alliance won 47 seats in the Jharkhand assembly, including 30 for the JMM and 16 for the Congress. The BJP secured 25 seats, the JVM-P 3, the AJSU Party 2, the CPI-ML 1, the NCP 1, and independents 2. Currently, the assembly has 74 members, with the JMM-led ruling alliance holding 44 seats. Two JMM legislators, Nalin Soren and Joba Majhi, are now members of Parliament, while JMM legislator Sita Soren resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
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Additionally, Borio MLA Lobin Hembrom was recently disqualified under the anti-defection law. The BJP’s strength has also decreased to 23, with two of its MLAs—Dhulu Mahto (Baghmara) and Manish Jaiswal (Hazaribag)—now serving as MPs. Mandu MLA Jaiprakash Bhai Patel, who joined the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections, was also disqualified under the anti-defection law.
A total of 2.60 crore electors, including 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 1.13 lakh persons with disabilities (PwD), as well as senior citizens over 85 years old, are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections.