Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to contest assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) will contest assembly polls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu to be held next year.

The decision in this regard was taken at the party's core committee meeting at the residence of its president Shibu Soren in Ranchi yesterday, senior JMM leader leader Sudhir Mahto told a press conference in Jamshedpur today.

The election preparation in West Bengal will be kicked off in a massive rally at Sahid Minar in Kolkata on December 29, he said adding the tribal has strong base in Purulia, Midnapore, Burdwan, Hoogly and Jalpaiguri districts of the state.

The number of seats to be contested would be discussed at the party’s working committee meeting at Baripada in Orissa on  January 30 and decided at the central committee meeting to be held later.

"We will take the decision at an appropriate time," he said adding that the dates for the central committee meeting will be finalised later.

Referring to Tamil Nadu, he said JMM president for the state Ramalu Ramchandran have been asked to identify seats.

Mahto said the party would organise a meeting in Patna in the first week of January to chalk out the party's strategy for the coming panchayat election in Bihar.

All the 40 contestants of the party in the assembly polls, besides senior leaders will participate in the meeting.

Asked about JMM's plans in Jharkhand, where it is an ally of the NDA government of Arjun Munda, he said the core committee has decided to strengthen the party in the state and all its five ministers have been entrusted with the responsibility of one commissionary each.