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Jharkhand: Gogoi meets Soren over upcoming Assam polls
The development comes two days after Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Hemant Soren addressed an impressive rally in Biswanath district on Tuesday besides attending Iftar celebrations.
Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi, along with other senior party leaders, met Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren here on Thursday and discussed a possible pre-poll alliance and seat sharing for the upcoming Assembly elections in the north-eastern state, people aware of the development said.
The development comes two days after Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Hemant Soren addressed an impressive rally in Biswanath district on Tuesday besides attending Iftar celebrations.
Addressing the rally hosted jointly by the JMM and the newly-formed Jai Bharat Party (JBP), which announced an alliance with JMM to contest around 40 seats in the elections, the Jharkhand CM called for tribal unity and appealed to the community to exercise their democratic rights judiciously in the upcoming Assembly elections. This was the second such rally of Soren in Assam, with the first being on February 1.
The JMM is the lead partner in the JMM-Congress-RJD combined INDIA bloc government in Jharkhand led by CM Hemant Soren. The Congress, Assam’s main Opposition party, is eyeing a comeback to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has governed the state for a decade.
However, JMM’s entry into the political arena for the 126-member Assam Assembly election has added a new dimension to the state’s politics. Of the 126 Assembly constituencies, 19 are reserved for the scheduled tribes, which JMM leaders said are on the party’s radar.
Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi and AICC in-charge Jitendra Singh arrived in Ranchi on Thursday morning. After a brief stopover at Congress minister Deepika Pandey’s residence, they met chief minister Hemant Soren at Soren’s residence. They held a closed door meeting that party’s Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju also attended.
On his way out, Gogoi sidestepped questions about the possible Congress-JMM alliance. “We came to discuss the emerging important issues in the country,” Gohoi told reporters, refusing to answer questions on Assam polls.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said talks have been ‘positive’. “Things related to alliance and seat sharing will fall into place at the appropriate time,” he added.
The JMM leaders also avoided sharing details on the possible alliance, at this stage, but underlined that they are set to contest the Assembly elections in Assam.
“I am not aware of the details of today’s meeting. However, one thing is certain that we will contest the Assam Assembly polls. We have been preparing for several months. What will be the modalities of the pre-poll alliance and with which party—all these will be decided by our leader in due course,” JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said.
Party insiders said several senior leaders, including a minister and elected representatives have been working on the ground in Assam, doing groundwork for the upcoming elections.
President of the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) meets Soren
Meanwhile, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a newly formed party, paid a courtesy call on chief minister Hemant Soren at the latter’s residence here on Thursday.
A statement from the chief minister’s office said the AJP chief discussed the upcoming Assam elections and several other ongoing developmental issues in Jharkhand. Other members and officials of the Assam Jatiya Parishad were also present on the occasion.
