Bihar Assembly elections: Hemant Soren's JMM withdraws; blames 'political conspiracy'
What's the story
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has withdrawn from the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The Hemant Soren-led party had earlier announced it would contest six seats in the state, but now it has blamed its allies, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, for a "political conspiracy." The JMM's decision to withdraw comes as a setback for the Grand Alliance, which is yet to finalize a seat-sharing agreement, but parties have nonetheless announced their own candidate lists.
Election strategy
Seat-sharing deadlock leads to JMM's withdrawal
Initially, the JMM had decided to go solo in Bihar as it couldn't get its desired seats. It had identified six assembly seats, Chakai, Dhamdaha, Katoria (ST), Pirpainti, Manihari (ST), and Jamui, for contesting. But things went haywire after the RJD and Congress failed to come to an understanding about seat share. According to JMM leaders, the party felt betrayed because it had given the RJD seats in Jharkhand (seven in 2019, six in 2024), but this was not reciprocated.
Ultimatum
JMM's ultimatum
JMM's ultimatum was clear: they would contest alone if they didn't get a "respectable number" of seats by October 15. That criterion, however, was not met, which led to the sudden exit. Tuesday was the last day for submission of nomination papers for the six seats. Senior JMM leader Sudivya Kumar said, "The RJD and the Congress are responsible for keeping JMM from contesting the election as part of a political conspiracy."
Alliance discord
Grand Alliance's seat-sharing saga in Bihar
Kumar added that the Mahagathbandhan will suffer consequences for this decision. Despite appeals from senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav for unity, infighting has tarnished the coalition's image of solidarity. The RJD reportedly agreed to give 61 seats to Congress but wanted to keep important seats such as Kahalgaon, Narkatiyaganj, and Vasaliganj. The JMM has stressed that it will review the alliance with RJD and Congress in Jharkhand as well.