While ruling out joining a proposed Third Front, JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday said his party’s alliance with the Congress is intact and they would jointly contest the coming lok Sabha polls.
As for Odisha, Soren told reporters here that the JMM is yet to decide about forging any State-specific poll alliance with any party here and any decision in this regard would be taken at the right time.
He said he is quite hopeful about the JMM’s greater success in Odisha this time compared to the 2009 polls as the party’s State unit is now re-galvanised and prepared to fight the polls in a more confident manner.
The JMM’s Central Committee under the leadership of Sibu Soren would decided in appropriate time how many and which seats the party would contest, Soren said.
Slamming the Odisha Government for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to deny the tribals their legitimate rights, Soren questioned its seriousness about the claim of all-round development of tribals in the State. He cited the 2011 census which showed that tribal population in Odisha has dwindled as compared to the 2001 census.
Earlier, on Sunday, addressing a rally of the JMM’s Odisha unit here, Soren was critical of the Odisha Government on its “inability” to check the declining tribal population as per the 2011 national census report, which clearly showed the state of affairs of the ongoing developmental projects in Odisha.
Soren urged tribals to defeat the attempt being made to purchase their votes by parties as it could land them in more penury and poverty and asked them to exercise their mandate for the appropriate party which would work for bettering their living.
He appealed to the people to consider his party over others to get a better access to the process of development in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts as others have failed in their promises and neglected these areas during their tenures.