Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha.
Credit: X/@manojkjhadu
Ranchi: Expressing its disappointment with the JMM and Congress over seat-sharing for the Jharkhand assembly polls, the RJD on Sunday said it would not settle for less than 12 seats, but it will not sabotage the prospects of the INDIA bloc even if it goes solo.
The JMM and Congress on Saturday announced that the two parties would contest 70 of the state's 81 assembly seats.
"Less than 12-13 seats are not acceptable to us as the RJD has a strong hold on 18-20 seats. If we are asked to contest three-four seats, we are not ready to make any sacrifices," Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha said.
"Our sole aim is to defeat BJP, we will not sabotage the INDIA bloc," he said.
Jha, a Rajya Sabha MP, said even if the party decided to go solo in the elections, it would extend its support to INDIA bloc candidates on 60-62 seats.
Last time, RJD had contested seven seats and won one seat. Its MLA Satyanand Bhokta is a minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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