Lok Sabha Elections 2019: JMM eyes Odisha with Congress alliance

Shibu Soren’s daughter Anjali is Mayurbhanj LS poll candidate; party also eyes assembly seats

Forming a pre-poll alliance with the Congress in neighbouring Odisha, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will contest from the Mayurbhanj constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, besides eyeing four to five assembly segments in the upcoming state elections in Odisha.

The constituencies in the tribal-dominated districts are thus poised to witness a fierce political battle between the JMM and Biju Janata Dal, which has five MLAs at present from the two districts. (PTI)

Announcing the party decision, JMM working president Hemant Soren said that his sister Anjali Soren would be the party candidate from Mayurbhanj. “The party will also contest five-six assembly seats in Odisha. The final announcement regarding the assembly seats and candidates will be announced within three to four days, following final clearance by the AICC (All-India Congress Committee),” said Hemant.

The JMM had four legislators in the Odisha assembly in 2004. Neighbouring Mayurbhanj and Sundergarh had been JMM strongholds since the years of the struggle for the creation of Jharkhand, and these places were part of the party’s “greater Jharkhand” demand.

Elaborating on the decisions taken at the JMM’s Odisha committee meeting, held at Mayurbhanj on Sunday, Kalinga K Jena, general secretary of the Odisha unit, said that the assembly seats from which the JMM wanted to contest were: Morada, Saraskana, Rairangpur, Bangriposi, and Udala (all in Mayurbhanj district), and Birmitrapur and Rajgangpur (both in Sundergarh district).

The JMM had also decided on the likely candidates from these seats, said Jena, informing that B Aind and Patras Ekka were likely to contest from Birmitrapur and Rajgangpur (Scheduled Tribe seats) in Sundergarh. Jena said that he himself wanted to contest from Morada, the general seat in Mayurbhanj district.

According to Jena, other likely candidates include Mahesh Hembrom from Saraskana; Ram Chandra Murmu from Rairangpur; Fagu Hansda from Bangriposi; and either Chandrasekhar Singh or Sandu Singh from Udala.

The constituencies in the tribal-dominated districts are thus poised to witness a fierce political battle between the JMM and Biju Janata Dal, which has five MLAs at present from the two districts.

The JMM has a strong base in Bangriposi, Rairangpur, Bahalda, and Jashipur where its candidates stood second in the 2009 elections. The party won the Baripada seat in 2000 and 2004.