RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Finalises Seat-Sharing With Jharkhand Mukti Morcha For Upcoming Assembly Elections

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad's intervention has led to a resolution in seat-sharing discussions with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly election. On October 22, 2024, RJD announced its candidates for six seats. Both parties will contest the election as part of the INDIA bloc alliance.

Tejashwi Yadav, an RJD leader, met with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday morning. They had a brief meeting before engaging in discussions with the RJD's Jharkhand leadership. Sources revealed that Mr. Prasad and Mr. Soren conversed over the phone, leading to an agreement where JMM allocated six seats to RJD.

Seat Allocation and Candidate Announcements

At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, RJD disclosed its list of candidates: Suresh Paswan from Deoghar, Sanjay Prasad Yadav from Godda, Subhas Yadav from Koderma, Rashmi Prakash from Chatra, Naresh Prasad Singh from Bishrampur, and Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav from Hussainabad. This announcement clarified seat-sharing within the INDIA bloc.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) also declared their candidates: Rajkumar Yadav for Dhanwar, Chandradeo Mahato alias Bablu Mahato for Sindri, and Arup Chatterjee for Nirsa. The fourth seat is likely Bagodar, represented by sitting MLA Vinod Singh.

Congress and CPI's Position

Keshav Mahato Kamlesh, Jharkhand Congress State president, confirmed Congress will contest 30 seats after returning to Ranchi from Delhi. Out of these, 21 names were announced last night. Meanwhile, dissatisfied with their allocation in the INDIA bloc, CPI decided to field candidates in 15 constituencies.

In the previous 2019 Assembly election, JMM contested 43 seats and won 30; Congress contested 31 and secured 16; while RJD contested seven but only won one seat.

NDA Challenges and Defections

Trouble brews within NDA as several leaders missed out on tickets and have begun defecting to JMM. On Monday night, three former BJP MLAs—Louis Marandi, Kunal Sarangi, and Lakshman Tudu—joined JMM in Mr. Soren's presence.

This shift follows closely after three-term BJP legislator Kedar Hazra and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) leader Umakant Rajak also joined JMM. Additionally, AJSU's central general secretary Tarun Gupta rebelled against NDA by announcing his candidacy for Jamtara seat.

Mr. Yadav expressed confidence in defeating BJP again: "People of Jharkhand will teach a lesson to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which ruled the State for maximum years and ruined it... Once again we will defeat BJP and Hemant Soren will become the Chief Minister."

The JMM plans to contest the remaining 41 seats but has yet to make a formal announcement regarding their candidates.