JMM, Congress renew pledge on LS seat-sharing formula

RANCHI: Ruling allies Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress today renewed their pledge, made before the formation of the government, to contest the next year's Lok Sabha election in alliance with the JMM, conceding ten out of 14 seats to the Congress.

"The JMM will ally with the Congress to contest the Lok Sabha election and it stands by the 10 (Congress)/four (JMM) seat sharing formula," Chief Minister Hemant Soren said here today.

"We will complete our full term, which ends in December next year," he said.

PCC chief Sukhdeo Bhagat also said that the two allies had better coordination with each other and would contest the general elections as allies.

"We have already agreed upon the 10/4 formula. The only thing is to identify the constituencies where the respective parties would contest," Bhagat said.

The Lok Sabha seat sharing formula was one of the key conditions before the two political parties forged an alliance ahead of the swearing-in of the JMM-led UPA government on July 13.

The two parties have also said that the Coordination Committee of the alliance would soon be formed.