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Hemant, Kalpana Soren on JMM’s list of star campaigners for Assam polls
The development comes two days after the ECI announced the poll date for the 126-member Assam assembly election, with voting scheduled for April 9. Though the JMM has repeatedly underlined that it would enter the fray in Assam, which has a sizeable tribal population, the Hemant Soren-led party is yet to make it official whether they will contest solo or in alliance with other parties, including its Jharkhand ally, Congress.
Making its intention clear to contest the Assam state elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) wrote to the Election Commission of India, providing a list of its 20 star campaigners that includes chief minister Hemant Soren and party legislator Kalpana Soren, party leaders said on Tuesday.
The development comes two days after the ECI announced the poll date for the 126-member Assam assembly election, with voting scheduled for April 9. Though the JMM has repeatedly underlined that it would enter the fray in Assam, which has a sizeable tribal population, the Hemant Soren-led party is yet to make it official whether they will contest solo or in alliance with other parties, including its Jharkhand ally, Congress.
In a letter to the ECI on Monday, JMM stated that besides Hemant and Kalpana, 18 other campaigners will include senior party leader Sarfaraz Alam, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, state minister Hafizul Hassan and others.
The letter, written to the EC by JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey, stated Hemant Soren will lead their campaigning in different constituencies in Assam. The party also sought the EC’s approval for seamless movement of the party vehicles for campaigning.
“We request the poll body to grant permission for JMM’s poll campaigning in Assam and provide vehicle passes for star campaigners’ vehicles,” Pandey wrote.
Eyeing an entry in Assam, Hemant Soren recently undertook two trips there for pre-poll rallies. At the rally hosted jointly by JMM and the relatively new outfit, the Jai Bharat Party, in Bhawanipur district last week, the latter announced it would like to contest 40 seats in alliance with the JMM.
The development prompted Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi to rush to Ranchi last week to hold meet with Hemant Soren to explore possibilities to extend its alliance in Assam. Both parties have yet to confirm or deny seat sharing in the state. Marac 23 is the last date for nomination in the state.
