Jharkhand opposition parties to contest Assembly polls together

The opposition parties in Jharkhand have agreed to contest the Assembly elections together, a senior Congress leader said on Wednesday.

A meeting of the opposition parties took place at the house of the Executive President of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, which was attended by leaders of the Congress, RJD and others.

State Congress President Ajay Kumar and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVMP) President Babulal Marandi did not attend the meeting.

“We have agreed to fight together in the upcoming Assembly polls. We have agreed to root out the BJP government in the state ‘unitedly’,” Hemant Soren said at a press conference held after the meeting.

On the absence of the Congress and the JVM-P’s Presidents, he said: “They might have other engagements.”

Congress legislative party leader Aalamgir Aalam said: “We have agreed that the parties will get the sitting seats. This way 32 seats have already been decided. We will decide on the rest of the seats based on the performance of the parties in the 2014 polls.”

The Congress, JMM, RJD and JVM-P had fought the Lok Sabha poll together where the JMM and the Congress had won one seat each.

(IANS)