Setback for Grand Alliance in Bihar, this party breaks ties, will contest elections alone

New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing strife within the Grand Alliance for the Bihar elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has announced its decision to break ties with the alliance. The ruling JMM in Jharkhand announced on Saturday that it will contest the Bihar Assembly elections independently and field candidates in six seats. Elections for the 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly will be held on November 6 and 11, with counting of votes taking place on November 14. JMM General Secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, “The party has decided to contest the Bihar elections on its own. It will contest six assembly seats – Chakai, Dhamdha, Katoria (ST), Manihari (ST), Jamui, and Pirpainti.” Voting for these seats will take place in the second phase on November 11.

The JMM also released a list of 20 star campaigners for the Bihar elections. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will lead the star campaigners. A senior JMM leader said on Saturday that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had demanded seats from the Grand Alliance, but the alliance did not allocate seats. Therefore, the party has decided to contest the elections alone.

Addressing media persons here, JMM Central General Secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, “We are with the Grand Alliance and will contest the elections as an alliance. We urge the Grand Alliance leaders in Bihar to announce the JMM’s share in the alliance as soon as possible, as the nomination process has already begun.”

He said the party has also completed its preparations for the Bihar elections. He said that in the Jharkhand elections, the JMM had given a “respectable share” to its alliance partners – Congress, RJD, and CPI(ML)L. “Therefore, we expect a respectable number of seats for the JMM in the Bihar elections as well,” Bhattacharya said.

He said that in the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was given seven seats, but it won only one, Chatra. Bhattacharya said, “However, we made an RJD MLA a minister for five years in the coalition government in Jharkhand. In the 2024 elections, we gave five percent of Jharkhand’s seats, or six, to the RJD. One of the four winning members was made a minister, fulfilling the alliance’s dharma.”

He said that the JMM knows how to fight elections strongly, especially against the BJP. He said, “We don’t want any confusion among alliance partners, as this could give others an opportunity to take advantage. Therefore, we want everything resolved by our Central Committee meeting. There are many seats in Bihar where if we don’t help them and our leaders don’t campaign, it will cause huge losses to the Grand Alliance.”