Giridih/ Ranchi, Jul 10 (PTI) Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju on Thursday said that the party is making efforts to ensure that the JMM, as an alliance partner, gets seats to contest in the Bihar assembly elections.
The JMM, the major partner in the ruling coalition in Jharkhand, has an alliance with the Congress and RJD in the state.
“The Congress party is striving to secure seats for the JMM for the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar. This is our responsibility as part of the alliance, and we have already taken steps in this regard,” Raju told reporters in Jharkhand’s Giridih district.
The JMM is preparing to contest 12–15 seats in the Bihar assembly elections, a party official said.
However, a final decision on this will be taken after discussions with the INDIA bloc partners, he said.
The elections for the 243-member Bihar assembly are expected to take place in October or November.
Later in a press conference in Ranchi, Raju said the party organisation is being strengthened in Jharkhand.
“We have already set up block-level committees. Now, we will soon set up Gram Panchayat Congress Committee and ward-level Congress committees in 49 urban local bodies in the state,” he added.
The Congress leader said the party would continue its fight for the separate Sarna religious code for the tribals and implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, also known as PESA.
Raju added that they would take a resolution from every Gram Sabhas in Jharkhand for the Sarna code and submit it to the President.
“We will also stage a demonstration in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the separate Sarna code,” he said.
Raju also criticised the Election Commission of India ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar assembly polls.
“The goal of the exercise is to snatch the voting rights of the poor, SC, ST and OBC electors who migrated to other states for livelihood," he alleged.