Jharkhand party not to join Rajya Sabha polls

The second main opposition party of the state - Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) - Monday decided it would neither field a candidate nor support any party in the Feb 7 Rajya Sabha polls.

"A party meeting took place today in which it was decided not to field candidate in the poll or support any party's candidate in the RS polls. We do not have numbers, so we will not field candidate," JVM-P general secretary Praveen Singh told reporters.

The JVM-P has 11 legislators in the 82-member state assembly.

Baulal Marandi, the first chief minister of Jharkhand, is the president of the JVM-P.

The main opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party, has also not yet decided on fielding candidate.

The two parties of the ruling alliance - the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) - have announced they would field their candidates.

The seats will fall vacant as the terms of the BJP's Rajya Sabha member J.P.N. Singh and Independent member Parimal Nathwani are ending.

Of the six Rajya Sabha seats from the state, the Congress has two while the BJP, the JMM and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have one each besides an Independent member. Though K.D. Singh won on a JMM ticket, he later joined the TMC.

The Rajya Sabha elections for 55 seats across 16 states are scheduled Feb 7. While the notification will be published Jan 21, the last date for filing nominations is Jan 28. The term of the sitting MPs ends April 2.