BJP8217;s support base shrinking

Mandal reiterated that the JMM-S will contest eight of the total 14 South Bihar seats and leave the remaining seats to its prospective poll ally, the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD, to share with the Congress.

The JMM-S will, however, have no truck with the Congress in the coming parliamentary elections, he said.

8220;We do not stand to gain much in terms of votes if we forge an alliance with the Congress because Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have a common vote bank. Apart from this the Congress is not a party that can be trusted,8221; the JMM-S vice-president said.

Exuding confidence over the party8217;s poll prospects Mandal said the JMM-S will bag all the eightseats from this region because no other political party except the RJD had shown commitment towards the popular demand of statehood.

Describing the BJP8217;s performance in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections in which the party bagged as many as 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats of this region as a 8220;fluke victory8217;, Mandal claimed the BJP8217;s support base was shrinking fast in South Bihar.

According to him, the reason behind the dwindling support base of the BJP was that despite having 12 MPs from this region, the party had done 8220;absolutely nothing8221; for the creation of a separate Jharkhand state.

JMM-S president Sibu Soren who was also present at the press conference alleged that none of BJP MPs from this region ever uttered a word in the Lok Sabha on the issue of statehood to Jharkhand.

8220;The silence of a party which made most of the Vananchal issue in the last Lok Sabha polls over the statehood issue is unpardonable,8221; Soren said.

8220;People in the Jharkhand region are convinced now that it is the JMM-S which can turn their dream of a separate Jharkhand state into a reality8221;, Soren said.

Mandal said the support base of the JMM-S was widening in South Bihar particularly in the Palamau region where hundreds of workers belonging to different political outfits would be joining the JMM-S.

He said with the passing of a resolution in the state Assembly for a separate Jharkhand state, the ball was now in the Centre8217;s court.

8220;The resolution in the state Assembly will have a meaning only when it is followed up by the Centre with a similar resolution in the Lok Sabha,8221; Mandal said.

Mandal said if the people of this region helped the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Soren bag maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha elections, the party would see to it that statehood to Jharkhand was granted without further delay. quot;It doesn8217;t matter which party leads the coalition at the Centre,8221; he added.