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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of indulging in 'divisive politics' and poaching leaders from other parties.
She further exuded confidence that the 'Mahagathbandhan' -- alliance of Congress, JMM, RJD and other parties -- will retain power in the upcoming assembly elections. "BJP believes in the politics of divide and they have taken away many people from very powerful parties, not only in Jharkhand but also in Maharashtra and everywhere. But it has not benefitted them in any way," Mahua Maji told ANI. "Many people are also joining JMM. JMM and Mahagathbandhan is confident that this time our government will be formed," she added. Elections are being held on 81 seats of Jharkhand assembly in two phases on November 13 and November 20. Meanwhile, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday announced that INDIA bloc will contest the Jharkhand Assembly polls together and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress will contest 70 of 81 seats in the state assembly. Hemant Soren said the remaining seats will be contested by other parties of the INDIA bloc, and talks are underway with the RJD and Left parties. Ghulam Ahmed Mir, who is Congress in-charge of Jharkhand, was also present in the press conference. "INDIA bloc will contest the Jharkhand Assembly polls together. It has been decided that 70 seats in the state will be contested by the JMM and Congress. The rest of the seats will be discussed upon further," Soren said. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha as part of the UPA (United Progressive alliance) contested 43 seats, Congress contested 31 seats and the Rashtriya Janata Dal seven seats in the 81-member assembly. The UPA attained victory by winning 47 seats against BJP's 25 seats. Jharkhand Minister and Congress leader Banna Gupta said that the INDIA bloc is doing its work smoothly and people will vote to continue the ruling coalition government in the state. "Our in charge, (state) president, CLP leader together sat down with INDIA Alliance team. Everything has become very systematic. There is no 'if or but' anywhere. INDIA Alliance is doing its work smoothly. We say this very confidently that people of Jharkhand will give a chance one again to the INDIA Alliance government led by Hemant Soren," he said. In a major boost to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, former BJP MLA from Jamua in Jharkhand, Kedar Hajra and former vice president of All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and ex-MLA from Chandankyari Umakant Rajak joined the JMM. The nomination process has started for the first phase of Jharkhand polls. Earlier on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed 'Samvidhan Samman Sammelan' in Ranchi and said Congress will remove 50 percent bar on the reservation and carry out caste census when it is in power at the Centre. He said the fight to protect the constitutional values was not just 70 years old, but was going on for hundreds of years. He said, the constitution carries the message and ideology of the great spiritual thinkers and the leaders of the country. "It is a fight between the constitution and the Manusmriti," he remarked. The senior Congress leader maintained that the caste census along with institutional survey will be like an X-ray of the society to find out the exact number of people belonging to different castes and how much representation they have in various institutions and who controls how much wealth. He said that there was still a massive gap in the wealth distribution in the country, pointing out that the richest one percent of people in India controlled 40 percent of the wealth of the country.Rahul Gandhi alleged that the system had been manipulated and exploited by a small minority of people, while the majority "90 percent" had been left out. He said these "90 percent" people had either no or negligible representation in various institutions in the country like the media, the corporate world, the bureaucracy. The Lok Sabha LoP cited Bollywood and said that the Daltis, the backwards, or the Adivasis had almost nil representation even in Bollywood. Rahul Gandhi alleged that while the Adivasis were given symbolic respect, they were not given any power. Votes will be counted for Jharkhand polls on November 23. (ANI)
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