By IANS,
Ranchi : The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Thursday said that it would claim at least one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from the state, which fell vacant after the sitting members were elected to the Lok Sabha.
“The JMM will claim at least one Rajya Sabha seat,” Mathura Prasad Mahto, the party’s chief whip in the state legislature, told reporters in Bokaro town.
He said talks will be initiated with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners for the election.
One of the seats was held by former external affairs minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha, who was elected to Lok Sabha. The second fell vacant when sitting MP Digvijay Singh, of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), quit to fight the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate from Banka in Bihar, and won.
The election for the two seats will take place June 20.
Mahto said that a crucial party meeting would take place Saturday to decide the future course of action regarding formation of alternative government in the state.
“The JMM is still hopeful of forming an alternative government and holding assembly elections on time. Talks will be initiated with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and others on forming an alternative government,” he said.
Jharkhand is under President’s rule since Jan 19 and the state assembly has been kept under suspended animation.