Disappointed over offer of Jharkhand assembly seats by JMM, Cong; all options open: RJD

Ranchi: Fissures surfaced among INDIA bloc partners ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections as the RJD on Saturday expressed disappointment over announcement of JMM and Congress contesting 70 of 81 seats in the state.

The RJD said the decision on seat sharing by the two INDIA bloc constituents was "unilateral".

It also made it clear that "all options were open" to the party.

The assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20 and counting will take place on November 23.

"We express our disappointment over the offer of seats to us. The decision is unilateral," Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha said.

Earlier in the day, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced that the JMM and the Congress would contest 70 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

Jha claimed, "We were not consulted. All options are open to us." He said that the RJD has identified at least 15 to 18 seats in Jharkhand where it has potential to defeat the BJP on its own.

Last time the party had contested seven seats and ended as runner-up in five of them.