JMM wants Lok Sabha seat to help Munda in assembly poll

RANCHI - The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), an alliance partner in the ruling coalition, said Tuesday it was ready to support Chief Minister Arjun Munda in his assembly by-poll if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cooperated likewise in the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha by-poll.

Mangal Singh Soy, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, quit his membership of the state assembly from Kharsawan seat Tuesday to help senior party leader and Chief Minister Arjun Munda get elected as member of the assembly.

According to BJP sources, Munda will contest the assembly by-poll from Kharsawan to get elected to the state assembly. Munda, a Lok Sabha member from Jamshedpur, has to get elected to the state assembly within six months of his becoming the chief minister.

The JMM, an alliance partner of the BJP, Tuesday said it was ready to support Munda in the Kharsawan assembly by-poll if the BJP assured its cooperation in the Lok Sabha by-poll. After getting elected to the state assembly, Munda will quit his Lok Sabha seat.

“We are ready to support the chief minister in the assembly by-poll. We hope the BJP will cooperate with the JMM in the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha by-poll,” senior JMM leader and Land and Revenue Minister Mathura Mahto told reporters.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the JMM had won the Jamshedpur seat. In 2009 general elections, Munda defeated the JMM nominee from the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat.