- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has said it will contest six specific assembly seats of Bihar
- The Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal have been unable to agree on seat-sharing in Bihar elections
- The Congress has so far refused to endorse Tejashwi Yadav as the Opposition's Chief Ministerial candidate
Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha declared today that it would contest the elections in Bihar on its own, creating another rift within the Opposition Grand Alliance. The party made no secret that it is now on the warpath.
"We will fight very strongly. We will not go for any 'friendly' fight. Enemy is enemy," said Supriyo Bhattacharya, the party's general secretary.
"Our workers have struggled in Bihar for the last 10 years. So for them, we will contest these polls. We have also some pressure from our organisation. Hence we have decided to go alone in the Bihar election," he added.
The JMM, which part of the INDIA bloc, was expected to be given seats in the coming assembly elections in Bihar, especially since both Congress and Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal are part of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand.
But so far, Tejashwi Yadav's RJD and ally Congress have been unable to come to an understanding regarding the seat division. The two parties have now started fielding candidates unilaterally, setting the stage for some "friendly contests" across the state.
Earlier today, the Congress - which was holding out for 70 seats, many of which guaranteed victory -- made it clear again that it is not backing the Yadav junior for the top post should they win.
"The Chief Ministerial face will be announced at an appropriate time,' said Congress's senior leader Pawan Khera. Then in a heavy hint that the two parties are unlikely to patch up, he said, "In constituencies where more than one Grand Alliance candidate has filed nomination, one nomination will be withdrawn within one to two days".
The JMM leader said the party would contest six assembly seats - Chakai, Dhamdaha, Katoria (ST), Manihari (ST), Jamui and Pirpainti, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
Elections to 243 seats of the Bihar assembly will be held on November 6 and November 11. All the seats the JMM plans to contest will go to polls on the second phase.
The counting of votes will take place on November 14.
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