Jamshedpur, April 1 (IANS) The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Friday announced it would contest the Lok Sabha bypoll from Jamhedpur though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its ally in the state’s ruling coalition, also has staked its claim to the seat.
‘We have decided to fight the bypoll for the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat. The final decision will be taken in the party’s central committee meeting,’ senior JMM leader Sudhir Mahto told reporters here after a meeting of the party’s executive committee.
The BJP’s Arjun Munda, now the chief minister, held the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat, but vacated it after winning the Kharsawa bypoll to the state assembly in March.
The JMM supported Munda in the Kharsawa bypoll and in return wanted the BJP’s support to its candidate for the parliamentary bypoll from Jamshedpur.
However, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who was in Ranchi last month, announced his party would contest the parliamentary bypoll, snubbing the JMM.
The JMM’s decision to contest the bypoll is likely to put another strain on the ties between the two alliance partners.
