Tejashwi Yadav, a leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), announced that the groups in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have agreed on how to share seats for the upcoming elections in Jharkhand. He made this announcement at a press conference in Ranchi and stressed that the INDIA coalition is united. This alliance consists of several parties, including the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), RJD, Congress, and CPI (ML).

 

Elections scheduled for November 

 

Elections for the 81-seat Jharkhand assembly will happen in two parts on November 13 and November 20. The process for candidates to sign up for the first part, which includes 43 seats, started on October 18 and will end on November 25. The sign-up for the second part, which has 38 seats, began on Tuesday and will finish on October 29. As the elections get closer, different political parties are starting to announce their candidates and file their nominations.

Yadav showed trust in the strength of the alliance, saying that the INDIA bloc is united and will work together in the elections. He also stated that Hemant Soren will be the chief minister of Jharkhand again. Yadav promised that the RJD's share of seats will be announced soon and said that the coalition wants to promote peace and respect for all religions in Jharkhand.

Yadav's comments come after some recent disagreements within the alliance. Just a few days ago, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced a plan about how to share the seats. He said that the JMM and Congress would run for 70 of the 81 assembly seats, which means only 11 seats would be left for other partners like the RJD and CPI (ML). This announcement worried the other members of the alliance and made them discuss what to do next.

Even with these problems, Yadav said that all the parties in the INDIA alliance support ideas like respecting all religions, peace, and harmony. He mentioned that everyone wants Jharkhand to grow and for its people to do well. Yadav also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that their time in power hurt the state. He claimed that the BJP is against reservation policies and the Constitution. Yadav believes that the people of Jharkhand will respond strongly to the BJP in the elections.

 

List of candidates released

 

Sources close to the situation say that the JMM will compete for 41 seats, the Congress will take 30, the RJD will run for six, and the CPI (ML) will contest four. The RJD has already shared a list of its six candidates. These candidates are Suresh Paswan from Deoghar, Sanjay Prasad Yadav from Godda, Subhash Yadav from Koderma, Rashmi Prakash from Chatra, Naresh Prasad Singh from Vishrampur, and Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav from Hussainabad.

At the same time, the Congress party has confirmed that it will compete for 30 seats. The head of the state Congress, Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, said, “We will be contesting on 30 seats. That is confirmed. The second list will be released soon.” The CPI(ML) has also announced its candidates for three seats. These candidates are Arup Chatterjee from Nirsa, Raj Kumar Yadav from Dhanwar, and Chandradev Mahto from Sindri.

In the last assembly elections in 2019, the JMM, Congress, and RJD worked together as an alliance before the elections. They won a total of 47 seats, which was a good majority. The JMM won 30 seats, the Congress got 16, and the RJD won just one seat. Because they worked well together in the past, there is now more pressure on them to stay united as they get ready for the upcoming elections.