A party’s strength in terms of MLAs in the Lok Sabha constituency will determine seat sharing in the 14 seats in Jharkhand.

The JMM, which heads a Congress-RJD alliance government in Jharkhand, had a preliminary talk on seat sharing in the state for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi on Saturday.

“It was a very positive talk with senior Congress leaders and the groundwork has been laid for a coordinated and strong fight in the Lok Sabha polls for each of the 14 seats in Jharkhand,” said JMM national general secretary-cum-spokesperson Vinod Pandey.

“The JMM delegation submitted the seats where it has got a stronghold in terms of the numbers of MLAs before the Congress leaders, especially in Kolhan region, Santhal Pargana and parts of South Chotanagpur region, with facts and figures. The final talks on seat sharing would be done at a later stage,” Pandey added.

Senior Jharkhand Congress leader and parliamentary affairs minister Alamgir Alam, who was present at the meeting, said the parties (JMM and the Congress) laid out the areas in the state where they were in a strong position.

“When we contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, we fought as a mahagathbandhan comprising the JMM, the Congress and the RJD. However, this time have an INDIA bloc that will have Left, JDU and other parties too. Today’s meeting discussed constituencies where each of the parties has a strong presence. We will be holding talks with other parties too before going for the exact seat sharing,” Alam said.

Exuding confidence, Alam said: “The talks were held on a very good note
and we are hopeful of repeating the performance of 2004 wherein we won 12 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand.”

He denied reports of Singhbhum Congress MP Geeta Koda joining the BJP.

“She has denied any reports of her joining the BJP and has assured to be with the Congress,” said Alam.