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Assam polls: JMM goes solo, fields 21 candidates
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) announced 21 candidates for Assam elections, defying alliance talks with Congress, highlighting internal discord in the INDIA bloc.
In a sign of fissures in the INDIA bloc, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)—lead partner in the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition government in Jharkhand, led by chief minister Hemant Soren—announced its list of 21 candidates on Monday for the elections to the 126-member Assam assembly.
Monday was the last day for nominations. The party declared its list for 21 constituencies, including one reserved for the scheduled tribe, defying all speculation of a possible alliance with other parties, including the Congress which is the principal opposition in Assam—a state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a decade.
“After a detailed deliberation, the JMM has decided to contest 21 seats in the upcoming assembly elections in Assam,” JMM General Secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey said. He underlined that Hemant Soren has emerged as a popular leader in the nationwide fight for tribal rights and has earned the faith of the tea tribe community in the state.
The party has fielded Priti Rekha Baria from Mazbat, Teharu Gour from Biswanath, Amit Nag from Khumtai, Bhuben Murari from Chabua, Phedricson Hasda from Gossaingaon, Baldev Teli from Sonari, Peter Minj from Duliajan, Paban Sautal from Rongonadi, Bharat Nayak from Digboi and Prabhat Das Panika from Bhergaon, among others.
Of the 21 seats, the JMM will contest 17 against Congress candidates including those in Gossaigaon, Bhergaon, Mazbat, Biswanath, Titabor, Khumtai, Makum, Ronganodi, Tingkhong, Naharkatia, Duliajan, Doom Dooma, Barchalla, Sonari, Bokajan, Chabua and Rangapara. On the remaining four—Digboi, Margherita, Khowang and Sarupathar—the contest would be against the Congress’s local allies.
The seat sharing between the Congress and JMM failed to materialise despite backstage talks between leaders of the two parties. Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi and Assam Congress in-charge Jitendra Singh called on Hemant Soren in Ranchi earlier this month to discuss seat sharing.
Replying to reporters in Ranchi about why the alliance could not fructify, JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, “There must be several reasons for it. We will see the reasons after the polls.”
Reacting to the development, Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Sonal Shanti said the seat sharing could not be finalised because the JMM was demanding seats for which the party had already announced its candidates. “However, it won’t matter much because the Congress is the main opposition and our leaders and party workers have been working on the ground for a long time. We have earned support and any new party entering the fray won’t matter. We are set to win the state,” he added.
The JMM is contesting the elections in Assam for the first time. They are eyeing Assam’s sizeable tribal population, including many tea garden workers with roots in Jharkhand’s Chhotanagpur region, which presents a fertile ground for the party’s expansion. These communities, the JMM believes, have social and economic concerns that have not been adequately addressed and are seeking stronger political representation.
Ever since the JMM-led front returned to power in Jharkhand in 2024, the JMM has been taking several measures to establish a connection with the tea tribes, who do not have ST status in Assam. In November 2024, the Hemant Soren government approved the formation of a panel to study the plight of Assam’s ‘marginalised’ tea tribes in Assam.
The decision, made in the first cabinet meeting of the Hemant Soren government, came against the backdrop of the poll battle between the JMM-led coalition and the NDA. In that battle, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma repeatedly raised the issue of the ‘predicament’ of Jharkhand’s tribal community due to alleged large-scale infiltration from Bangladesh.
The JMM also formed a panel including Social Welfare Minister Chamra Linda and Rajmahal MP Vijay Hansdak to survey the party’s prospects in Assam and complete the groundwork. JMM chief Hemant Soren himself addressed two rallies in Assam over the past two months, setting the tone for the party’s election campaign.
To a specific question about who would benefit—the Congress or the BJP—by contesting in Assam, JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, “Only the JMM stands to benefit.”
