In the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections, INDIA alliance partners are expected to engage in "friendly battles" in three specific seats, as confirmed by alliance leaders on Saturday.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and CPI-ML have agreed to a friendly contest in the Dhanwar seat, while Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) continue discussions in hopes of avoiding similar situations in Chhattarpur and Bishrampur.
The Jharkhand Assembly election will occur in two phases on November 13 and 20, with results announced on November 23.
A total of 1,211 candidates are contesting across 81 assembly seats.
Within the INDIA bloc, JMM has fielded candidates in 43 seats, Congress in 30, RJD in six, and CPI-ML in four. JMM General Secretary Vinod Pandey stated that the INDIA bloc parties had reached a seat-sharing agreement for most constituencies, with the exception of Dhanwar, Chhattarpur, and Bishrampur, where friendly contests are likely. He added that discussions on the latter two seats are ongoing.
Jharkhand Congress President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh emphasized that despite these friendly battles, the INDIA bloc remains united in its goal of securing another alliance government in Jharkhand.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren previously announced that the bloc intends to contest the elections collectively, with Congress and JMM jointly fielding candidates in 70 seats. The remaining 11 seats will be allocated to the RJD and Left parties, as part of the seat-sharing strategy yet to be formally declared by the INDIA bloc.