With the Assembly elections in Jharkhand just a few months away, Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Chief Minister was accompanied by his wife, Kalpana Soren. The Chief Minister was in the national capital for the inauguration of a new building of Jharkhand Bhawan.

The G+7( Eight storey) building of the New Jharkhand Bhawan which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday( September 3, 2024),is showcasing a traditional tribal art form- Sohrai. 

The entire wall of this new Jharkhand Bhawan showcases Sohrai paintings. This art form is created on the front walls so that they will be seen by every visitor. 

On the sidelines of his visit, Hemant Soren made a visit to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge residence. After meeting Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, Hemant termed the visit as "a courtesy call" and said that both parties will soon start discussions regarding the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections.

“It was a courtesy meeting. We will now eventually have discussions regarding the Jharkhand Assembly Elections. Everything else is fine and peaceful. We will run the government with full strength, and in the future, we will win the elections too," Hemant said to reporters.

Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) suffered a blow recently when its senior leader and former chief minister Champai Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ranchi on August 30. Soren joined the BJP after resigning from the JMM, citing dissatisfaction with the party’s current style of functioning and "bitter humiliation."

The state is set to witness election to the 81-member Legislative Assembly later this year as the current government's tenure ends in 2024. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the dates. The JMM won 30 seats, and the Congress won 16 in the 2020 Assembly election. In the most recent Lok Sabha election, the Congress won two seats, the JMM won three, and the BJP won the most with eight

The elections are round the corner and there is a need to work out the strategy at the earliest, be it a uniform election campaign of INDIA bloc or seat sharing. In assembly elections, JMM plays the lead role while Congress is the second lead partner besides the RJD, which is a junior but significant partner. Unlike 2019, there is a possibility that the Left could also be inducted in the grand INDIA bloc. Therefore, the consultations have begun on that count,” said a senior JMM leader.

In 2019 assembly elections, the JMM, Congress and the RJD had contested in a pre-poll alliance. For the House of 81, JMM got the lion’s share and contested 43 seats, Congress 31 seats while the RJD was in fray in seven constituencies. The JMM-Congress-RJD combine won a majority of 47, with the three parties winning 30, 16 and one seat, respectively.