Jharkhand is now bracing for a direct contest between JMM's Hemant Soren and the BJP's Raghubar Das for the chief minister's post, as opposition alliance projecting Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren as its face for the upcoming state assembly elections.The opposition alliance announced its seat-sharing arrangement at a press meet, handing 43 seats to the JMM, 31 to the Congress and seven to the RJD.
Congress general secretary and the party in-charge of Jharkhand, announced at a press conference in Ranchi that Hemant Soren will not only be the alliance's chief ministerial face but also the driving force behind its campaign for the elections. He also told that "This is the first time that the opposition has stitched an alliance against the BJP. But there will be no confusion regarding seats this time, no 'friendly contests' on any seat, and Hemant Soren - as the leader of the alliance - will canvass for every candidate of the alliance,"
While Raghubar Das heads the incumbent BJP government in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren has served as its Chief Minister in the past.
The BJP has set a target of 65 seats for the Jharkhand elections, and confirmed that its campaign will be led by Raghubar Das himself. The ruling party had won 37 seats in the 2014 Jharkhand polls, and later gone past the majority mark as a number of MLAs joined it from other parties.