With assembly elections in Jharkhand just a few away, Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday. The Chief Minister was accompanied by his wife, Kalpana Soren.
Jharkhand CM Soren termed his meeting "a courtesy call" and said that both parties will soon start discussions regarding the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party MP Rahul Gandhi, Soren said, "I was planning to meet them for a long time. It was a courtesy meeting. We will now eventually have discussions regarding the Jharkhand Assembly Elections. Everything else is fine and peaceful. We will run the government with full strength, and in the future, we will win the elections too."
Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) suffered a blow recently when its senior leader and former chief minister Champai Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ranchi on August 30. Soren joined the BJP after resigning from the JMM, citing dissatisfaction with the party’s current style of functioning and "bitter humiliation."
The erstwhile Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) veteran declared his confidence in Union Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon joining the BJP.
The state is set to witness an election to the 81-member Legislative Assembly later this year as the current government's tenure ends in 2024. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the dates. The JMM won 30 seats, and the Congress won 16 in the 2020 Assembly election. In the most recent Lok Sabha election, the Congress won two seats, the JMM won three, and the BJP won the most with eight.
(Inputs from agencies)
