Lok Sabha polls: CPI snaps ties with INDIA in Jharkhand, to contest 8 seats

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Sunday parted ways with the opposition bloc INDIA in Jharkhand, announcing that it will contest in eight of the state's 14 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming elections.

The CPI has no representation in the Lower House of Parliament from Jharkhand.

"We have decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls on our own," CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak told PTI.

"The BJP has announced its candidates, but the Congress and the 'Mahagathbandhan' have not yet held any talks on seat-sharing. So, we have decided to go solo," he said.

The decision was taken at the party's state executive committee meeting here, he said.

The CPI will field its candidates in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Chatra, Palamu, Giridih, Dumka and Jamshedpur Lok Sabha constituencies.

Names of the candidates will be announced after March 16, Pathak said.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which leads the ruling coalition in Jharkhand, said such a decision by the CPI state unit raises questions over discipline within the party.

"It is beyond my understanding... if the state unit can take such decisions. Discussions on seat-sharing are already underway at the national level,” JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said.

Of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP has 11, AJSU party one, JMM one and the Congress has one.

However, the Congress' lone MP Geeta Kora recently shifted to the BJP.

Within the ruling alliance, the JMM has 29 MLAs, the Congress has 17 and the RJD has one.

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