Ranchi: JMM, which chose to go solo in Assam assembly election, bagged around 1.16% of the votes polled on Monday, failing to clinch any of the 16 seats it contested.Out of the 126 seats in the assembly poll held on April 9, JMM named candidates for 21. However, it could contest only on 16 seats owing to various last moment glitches. “Out of the 16 seats, JMM finished second on two and secured over 15,000 votes on the rest seven seats,” JMM president and chief minister Hemant Soren said.While the BJP-led NDA retained office for the third consecutive time, JMM seemed content with its performance. Hemant said, “Whatever we achieved in limited time and resources would not have been possible without the cooperation, trust, and participation of our tribal brothers and sisters of Assam. The manner in which they stood by us in this fight is not only commendable but extremely encouraging.”Stating that the decision to fight in Assam was more than just a political expansion of his party, Hemant said, “It was also a concrete step to give a strong voice to the fight for the rights, dignity, and identity of the people belonging to the tribal, Dalit and minority communities of that state. The plight of tribals in Assam — the lack of ST status, the absence of fair wages for tea plantation workers, and deprivation of land rights — are serious issues which laid the foundation for our struggle.” In West Bengal, JMM decided to back the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC. The Jharkhand CM, along with his wife and Gandey MLA Kalpana Soren, took part in around a dozen rallies in constituencies bordering Jharkhand. Slamming the poll verdict in West Bengal, JMM dubbed the entire electoral process as ‘unconstitutional’.“While the final tally for Bengal is still to come out, the entire election process was unconstitutional due to the kind of abuse of power by central agencies, including Election Commission, by the Narendra Modi-led govt at the Centre,” JMM’s central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said.
