Prepare for Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat, Hemant Soren asks MLAs

RANCHI: As many as five JMM legislators have reached out to their working president Hemant Soren on Wednesday and demanded that the party field its candidate for Singhbhum parliamentary seat, hinting at the pressure it is facing from grassroots workers due to the delay in mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing announcement.


The meeting of Chaibasa MLA Deepak Birua, Majhgaon legislator Niral Purty, Manoharpur MLA Joba Manjhi and Kharsawan MLA Dashrath Gagrai came amid speculations that JMM has made way for its mahagatbandhan ally Congress to field Geeta Koda in the seat and reports that JMM, which settled with four seats, has made a fresh bid to Congress for Singbhum and Khunti seats.

Speaking to TOI after the meeting, Purty said the legislators supported the party’s policy that the parliamentary polls should be fought under mahagatbandhan’s aegis to rout BJP from the Centre. “However, seat-sharing must be done after evaluating the ground realities, strength and weaknesses of each party so that mahagathbandhan gets a thumping victory,” he added. JVM-P had earlier criticised the delay in announcement.

Manjhi said Soren gave them the nod to prepare for the polls. “He asked us to be ready for the polls,” she said, adding, “The party MLAs have the right to express their thoughts and it is my duty to listen to them.”

The meeting came a day after Soren and JVM-P chief Babulal Marandi urged Congress to announce seat-sharing arrangement within a week to “clear the confusion among the workers.”

After Palamu, Godda and Jamshedpur, Singbhum seat, from where BJP state president Laxman Gilua is a sitting MP, is at the centre of a fresh standoff between JMM and Congress. Congress wants to field Jagannathpur MLA Geeta Koda from there.

On the other hand, JMM wants to field its candidate, too. “Singbhum parliamentary segment comprises Seraikela, Chaibasa, Manjhgaon, Jagannathpur, Manoharpur and Chakradharpur assembly segments. In 2014 state assembly polls, JMM won four seats except for Jagannathpur while Congress lost all of them. In fact, JMM got over 3.5 lakh votes in cumulative in all the seats while Congress failed to get even one lakh votes,” said a JMM leader from Chaibasa.

JMM workers also hit out at Koda. “Before she joined Congress, Koda supported the NDA government in the assembly. Her husband, former chief minister Madhu Koda, is also tainted . Will such a candidate lend a good image to mahagathbandhan?” asked a JMM leader fromn Ranchi.

Meanwhile, CPI leader Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Mehta met Soren and demanded that JMM must pitch for the inclusion of the Left parties in the alliance. “The mahagathbandhan will not be successful if the Left parties are kept out of the equation,” he said.