TMC enters alliance with JVM

Accepting to contest under former chief minister Babulal Marandi, the Trinamool Congress on Monday struck an alliance with the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric) to contest the assembly elections.

‘We tied up with JVM as we want to contest the polls under the leadership of Babulal Marandi as he has a clean image and is experienced too,’ Trinamool Congress Jharkhand unit president Bandhu Tirkey said here.

He said seat adjustments would be done on phase-wise basis with two seats - Gumla and Manika - being allotted to the TMC for the first phase polling scheduled on 25 Nov. Tirkey, who came to prominence after leading a pro-domicile agitation in 2002-03, said the JVM has also allotted four more seats to Trinamool - Mandar, Khijri, Kanke and Torpa constituencies, going for polls in other phases.

However, JVM’s principal general secretary Pradip Yadav said the party conceded only five seats - Mandar, Khijri, Kanke, Manika and Gumla.

Tirkey, who won from Mandar in the 2009 elections on a Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch ticket, joined the Trinamool along with the party, in March this year. 

He lost the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year from Ranchi on a Trinamool ticket.

The five-phase Assembly elections in the state will be held between 25 November and 20 December.

Meanwhile, Facing opposition attack over Saradha chit fund scam and Burdwan blast, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee today asked party leaders to launch a counter-offensive against what she said were canards and malicious campaign.

Banerjee asked party leaders to launch a door-to-door campaign and prepare a booklet to inform the people about attempts being made to link the party with the two issues, a senior party leader quoted her as having told a closed-door party meeting.

‘A campaign of canard and misinformation is being carried out against us in a planned way,’ she told the meeting at her residence, according to the party leader. ‘Today names of Mukul (Roy) and Madan (Mitra) are being dragged into disrepute. Tomorrow your names will be dragged’ she is stated to have told the meeting.