All the political parties in Jharkhand geared up following the Election Commission of India’s announcement of the schedule for the upcoming assembly election. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced on Saturday the that INDIA bloc will contest the upcoming assembly polls together and the Congress and the JMM will field candidates in 70 of 81 seats.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is currently the largest ruling party in Jharkhand, with 30 members in the state assembly. Soren stated that seat-sharing discussions are ongoing with alliance partners, including the RJD and the Left parties, for the remaining 11 seats.

“INDIA bloc will contest the Jharkhand assembly polls together. It has been decided during the seat-sharing talks with the allies that the Congress and the JMM will field candidates in 70 of 81 seats,” Soren said.

He added that the JMM-led alliance was confident of retaining power in the state on the back of its development work.

On Friday, NDA announced its seat-sharing formula among its partners. The BJP will contest 68 seats, AJSU Party 10, JD(U) 2 and LJP (Ram Vilas) 1.

According to ECI, assembly polls in Jharkhand will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20 and counting will take place on November 23.

The Election Commission announced that the filing of nomination papers for 43 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand, which will go to the polls on November 13 in the first phase, began on Friday and will continue until October 25.

(With PTI Inputs)