Shibu Soren and Roshan Giri seal rural poll deal

Ranchi, April 2: A meeting between Shibu Soren and Roshan Giri in Ranchi today sealed the alliance between the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to fight the panchayat polls in the Dooars and Terai.

JMM insiders said party chief Soren had promised Morcha general secretary Giri that the tribal outfit wouldn’t enter into any understanding with the Trinamul Congress to fight the rural polls.

The Giri-Soren talks took place in the backdrop of JMM leader John Barla’s bid to bring Trinamul on board for the elections and the Morcha’s rejection of any deal with Mamata Banerjee’s party.

“It was a successful meeting. We have decided to forge a long term alliance to fight elections. JMM chief has taken note of our concerns about Trinamul. Soren has assured us that the JMM is committed to strengthening the Gorkha-tribal unity,” Giri told The Telegraph.

Apart from Giri, the Morcha’s Darjeeling MLA, Trilok Kumar Dewan, was also present at the talks held at Soren’s residence.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the Morcha and the JMM also announced that both the parties would contest Assembly and parliamentary elections in Bengal together.

Giri said another meeting would be held in Darjeeling to discuss the sharing of seats to fight the panchayat polls.

Sources in the JMM said Soren tried to allay fears of the Morcha over any probable alliance with Trinamul.

“So far, the JMM has not got any proposal from Trinamul in this regard. If a proposal comes, it would be discussed. But, please note our alliance with the Morcha is driven by ideology. Both the parties are fighting for the same causes, which is not the case with Trinamul,” said a senior JMM leader.

The Morcha leaders went to Ranchi for talks with Soren after Barla had unilaterally held discussions with Trinamul for an alliance.

After a meeting with Trinamul senior leader Mukul Roy last month, Barla had said the JMM would field candidates in alliance with the Morcha in tea gardens but his party would support Trinamul in non-tea garden seats. There has been no formal alliance yet.

The Morcha doesn’t want to tie up with Trinamul which is against the creation of Gorkhaland. 

The Telegraph