Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren meets Lalu Prasad, says will fight Bihar polls together

Asked on how many seats the JMM will field its candidates in Bihar, Mr. Soren said ‘wait for some more time to know who will enter the poll fray from where’

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren comes out of Director's Bungalow of Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) after a meeting with Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, in Ranchi, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren met RJD president Lalu Prasad in RIMS here on Saturday and said they will fight the Bihar polls together.

Soren spent more than an hour with Prasad at RIMS Director’s bungalow, where the RJD leader is staying.

Coming out of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Mr. Soren told reporters, “we will fight Bihar elections together.”

He said the former Bihar chief minister’s health is better now.

RJD is a partner in the coalition government headed by Mr. Soren in Jharkhand. Besides JMM, the Congress is also part of the government in the State.

Asked on how many seats the JMM will field its candidates in Bihar where polls are due in October-November, Mr. Soren said “wait for some more time to know who will enter the poll fray from where”.

It may be noted that JMM had recently demanded 12 seats in Bihar under Grand Alliance. But, the RJD which heads the opposition grouping there, had indicated that it would spare not more than 2-3 seats to the Jharkhand based regional party.

The Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar consists of RJD, Congress, RLSP of former union minister Upendra Kushwaha and VIP of Bollywood setdesigner Mukesh Sahni.

The RJD supremo who is convicted in four cases of the multi-crore rupee fodder scam in Bihar is lodged in jail in Ranchi.

On health grounds he was shifted to RIMS . Recently in the wake of his attendants testing positive, Prasad was moved to the Director’s bungalow from the private ward of the State-run hospital.