Jharkhand elections: JMM-Congress to contest 70 of 81 seats, talks on with other allies

The INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections together, with Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) set to field candidates in 70 out of 81 seats, chief minister Hemant Soren announced on Saturday. Seat-sharing discussions are ongoing with alliance partners, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties, for the remaining 11 seats.

Currently, the JMM is the largest and ruling party in Jharkhand, having 30 members in the state assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 25 MLAs, while Congress has 16.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced schedule for the Jharkhand and Maharashtra Assembly elections on Tuesday.

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The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will vote on November 13 and 20, while Maharashtra will hold a single-phase election on November 20.

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Rahul Gandhi in Jharkhand today

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi left for Ranchi on Saturday to participate in the 'Samvidhan Samman Sammelan.' He is scheduled to address the gathering at the event in Ranchi at 3 p.m.

Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahai said, "The BJP understands only one narrative. But Rahul Gandhi, who walked across the country, spread a message of love to unite the nation. He is here to speak for the downtrodden, whose voices are rarely heard. This program was planned much earlier, and he is coming for that."

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Congress likely to issue first list of candidates today

AICC general secretary and Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir stated on Thursday that the first list of Congress candidates will be released after October 19. "Like in 2019, we will contest the assembly elections with our alliance partners. The seat-sharing has been nearly finalized, and a final decision will be made soon," Mir said.