Two days ago, the Congress went ahead and announced Pranav Jha as its candidate for one of the seats without consulting Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.
On Friday, JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said the party would field candidates for both seats and would not accept the Congress nominee. With the JMM taking a firm stand, the Congress leadership moved into damage-control mode, with the party’s state in-charge K Raju meeting Soren.
On Saturday, the JMM announced senior party leader Baijnath Ram as its candidate for one of the seats, while it is yet to name a nominee for the second seat. The Congress is trying to persuade the JMM leadership to back its candidate for the other seat, particularly as the BJP is also expected to field a nominee.
Jharkhand has 81 Assembly seats, and 28 votes are required to ensure the election of one RS candidate. The JMM has 34 MLAs, the Congress 16, the RJD four and the CPI(ML) two, giving the alliance a total of 56 votes.
