Ranchi, January 18: The Congress has sealed its alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and other regional parties in Jharkhand for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the state assembly polls. Other parties include the RJD, CPI and Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM). The parties have mutually agreed to project JMM chief Hemant Soren as the chief ministerial candidate in Jharkhand assembly elections due this year.

Of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand, the Congress will contest in six seats and JMM four, according to the seat-sharing arrangement, as reported by News18. The RJD will either contest Palamu or Chatra, while the CPI will contest from Hazaribagh, a seat held by union minister Jayant Sinha. The JVM will be contesting in two seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 12 of the 14 seats in Jharkhand, while the remaining two were won by the JMM. Congress Has Lost National Identity: Raghubar Das.

The Congress which contested in nine seats in alliance with the JMM lost in all nine. "You can see all of us here together. We will discuss contours of our alliance within our party and finalise the seat-sharing arrangement by this month end," Babulal Marandi was quoted as saying. The alliance partners seem to have agreed on projecting Hemant Soren as the chief ministerial candidate in the state assembly polls. Jharkhand to Become 'JMM-mukt' in Future: Raghubar Das.

“Congress president Rahul Gandhi had earlier said we will contest the state assembly elections under Soren’s leadership and it was reiterated in the meeting,” Jharkhand Congress president Ajay Kumar said after a meeting of opposition parties in Ranchi on Thursday evening. The grand alliance of opposition parties will pose a tough challenge for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 18, 2019 04:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).