Leader of the Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, Hemant Soren, whose party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Thursday retained its seats of Gomai and Silli in the bypolls has termed the victories as part of the “present political discourse over Opposition unity.”
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Soren, who is also a former Chief Minister of the State said Opposition unity talks would progress from this point on.
“Many things are mixed up in the victories, and although these two seats (Gomai and Silli) were held by the JMM and other friendly parties don’t have much of a stake in these seats, we involved the present political discourse in the campaign,” he said.
Mr. Soren was also present at the Opposition unity photo-op in Bengaluru when Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was sworn in last week. In Jharkhand, the JMM can count on the support of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal as well as the Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM). In the Rajya Sabha elections held in March, the JMM had extended the support of its 18 MLAs to the Congress which has six MLAs in the Assembly on the understanding that the latter would support it in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Congress’ Dhiraj Sahu was voted into the Rajya Sabha, with the help of the JMM and one MLA of the JVM among others.
While in Jharkhand the alliance is clear, Mr. Soren said further talks on seat adjustment will take place later. He said the Land Acquisition Bill and the Religious Freedom Bill cleared by the Assembly amid an Opposition walkout continue to be important issues.
“Development work is important and should go on, but there are some issues that affect the demography of certain areas and it is one of our core issues which we will continue to agitate against,” he said.
