JMM intends to contest 12 seats in Bihar polls as INDIA bloc partner

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is willing to contest at least 12 assembly seats in the upcoming Bihar polls as an ally of the INDIA bloc, a party leader said on Friday.

The final decision on the number of seats where the party will field candidates will be made only after a meeting with the INDIA bloc partners, he said.

The seat-sharing deal among the INDIA bloc constituents will be finalised in a day or two, JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey said.

"We have conveyed our intention to the leaders of the INDIA bloc constituents in Bihar during a recent meeting in Patna. We have also informed our party leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren about the outcome of the meeting. Now, the CM will take the final call on seats that the JMM will contest in Bihar after a discussion with the INDIA bloc partners," Pandey told PTI.

During the meeting, held on Tuesday, the JMM claimed around 12 seats in the tribal-dominated border areas, adjacent to Jharkhand, he said.

Tarapur, Katoria, Manihari, Jhajha, Pirpainti, Thakurganj, Banka, Rupauli, Chakai, Jamalpur, Banmankhi, and Ramnagar are the seats that the JMM is willing to contest, Pandey said.

The elections to 243 seats of the Bihar assembly will be held on November 6 and 11, and votes will be counted on November 14.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal is, however, contemplating offering up to five seats to the JMM, a RJD leader in Jharkhand said.

In the 2024 Jharkhand assembly polls, the JMM-led alliance had offered six of the 81 seats to the RJD.

The RJD had won four seats in Jharkhand.