Jharkhand polls: INDIA bloc seat arrangement almost done, says Congress

Jharkhand Congress in-charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir said on Wednesday that the INIDIA bloc seat arrangement is almost a done deal in Jharkhand.

“The alliance picture is clear. JMM has 42 seats, Congress 31, RJD 5, and 4 seats were undecided. However, we have reached a consensus between these seats also. Three will go to CPI(ML) while the other one remains undecided,” Mir told IANS.

He added that the seat arrangement is a minor issue. “BJP has no chance in Jharkhand,” he said.

He said that RJD had asked for seven seats. “But an arrangement was reached with the RJD and we allotted them five seats,” he said.

He added that there is no confusion in the INDIA bloc on the seat-sharing arrangement in Jharkhand.

On Tuesday, Congress released its final list of candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly elections, naming Shweta Singh from Bokaro and Ajay Dubey from Dhanbad.

Voting in these two constituencies is slated for 20 November in the second phase while the last date for filing nominations is 29 October.

Shweta Singh was the Congress candidate from Bokaro in the 2019 Assembly polls, in which she was defeated by BJP's Biranchi Narayan by about 10,000 votes. She is the daughter-in-law of the late Samaresh Singh, who was a former MLA from Bokaro and one of the stalwart leaders of Jharkhand.

Ajay Dubey, who has been made a candidate from the Dhanbad assembly seat, has been associated with the Congress for a long time and has held many posts in the party. He contested as the Congress candidate from Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and was defeated by BJP's P.N. Singh by more than 2.92 lakh votes.

Congress has so far declared candidates for 30 seats in Jharkhand. In its first list, the party named 21 candidates, in the second list it nominated seven candidates, and the remaining two candidates were named in the third list released late on Monday -- with just a day left for filing nomination.

The party has denied ticket to only one of its current MLAs in Jharkhand. Congress legislator from Barhi seat Umashankar Akela, after being denied a ticket by the party, has entered the fray on the Samajwadi Party ticket.

Voting for the 81 seats of the Jharkhand Assembly will be held in two phases on 13 and 20 November, while the counting of votes is slated for 23 November.