Jharkhand: Trinamool strikes alliance with JVM, Babulal Marandi to be its CM candidate

Ranchi, Nov 3: Accepting to contest under former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, the Trinamool Congress on Monday struck an alliance with the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric) to contest the Assembly elections.

"We tied up with JVM as we want to contest the polls under the leadership of Babulal Marandi as he has a clean image and is experienced too," Trinamool Congress Jharkhand unit president Bandhu Tirkey said here.

He said seat adjustments would be done on phase-wise basis with two seats - Gumla and Manika - being allotted to the TMC for the first phase polling scheduled on November 25.

Tirkey, who came to prominence after leading a pro-domicile agitation in 2002-03, said the JVM has also allotted four more seats to Trinamool - Mandar, Khijri, Kanke and Torpa constituencies, going for polls in other phases.

However, JVM's principal general secretary Pradip Yadav said the party conceded only five seats - Mandar, Khijri, Kanke, Manika and Gumla.

Tirkey, who won from Mandar in the 2009 elections on a Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch ticket, joined the Trinamool along with the party, in March this year.

He lost the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year from Ranchi on a Trinamool ticket. The five-phase Assembly elections in the state will be held between November 25 and December 20.

PTI