JMM eyes national party status, political office in Delhi

Ranchi: After a thumping victory in the state assembly election late last year, the JMM leadership is keen on expanding its footprints in the national political landscape in the coming years.
Senior functionaries in the outgoing central executive committee of the party said a resolution could be moved in the upcoming general convention for opening a party office in New Delhi later this year.
Aspiring to become a national party in the coming years, JMM is also keen on fielding candidates in the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar and West Bengal, set for 2025 and early 2026 respectively, and securing a notable share of seats.
The 13th general convention of the party is scheduled to be held at Ranchi's Prabhat Tara Maidan from April 13 to April 15. Over 5,500 party delegates, including those from its units in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Assam will attend.
"Besides Jharkhand, JMM has an organisational base in what we once called the Greater Jharkhand area, comprising parts of Odisha, Bihar, Bengal and Assam. For some time, we have also been thinking about opening a political office in New Delhi so that we can put our views forward on the national platform prominently," a member of the outgoing central committee told TOI, requesting anonymity.
The Election Commission rules dictate that a party can achieve a national party status if it secures 6% of the total votes polled in four states and in addition gets four of its members elected to the Lok Sabha or it wins 2% seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.
In 2021, JMM had irked Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee by announcing to field candidates in the ST reserved seats bordering Jharkhand in the Bengal assembly election but eventually withdrew all of them. In 2020, it fielded candidates in eight seats in Bihar assembly polls sans the party symbol of bow and arrow and lost in all of them. "This time, we will go all out in Bihar and field candidates in areas which border our state," an executive committee member of the party said.
Party spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said: "Every political party harbours national aspirations and we are no different. Decisions in this regard will be taken by the executive committee, party president and executive president during the general convention."