Patna, Oct 22 (IANS): Bihar Health and Agriculture Minister Mangal Pandey took a sharp dig at Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday following the near-finalisation of the seat-sharing agreement between the JMM and the RJD for the upcoming elections in Jharkhand.

“Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM0, had shown Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav their place by allocating them fewer seats to contest the Assembly election,” Pandey said.

Pandey suggests that the RJD holds a weak position in Jharkhand's political landscape.

The seat-sharing arrangement seems to highlight the dominant role of JMM in the state, with RJD receiving only a few seats, reflecting their limited influence in Jharkhand compared to Bihar.

After several rounds of negotiations between Tejashwi Yadav and Hemant Soren, a seat-sharing formula has been finalised for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections within the Grand Alliance.

Sources said that the RJD has been allocated eight seats while demanding twelve. Following negotiations, Tejashwi Yadav lowered his demand to nine seats before settling on eight. Additionally, the Communist Party of India - Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) will contest three seats under this arrangement.

The JMM and Congress, the largest parties in the alliance, will contest the majority of seats, fielding candidates in 70 of the 81 constituencies. The remaining 11 seats have been distributed among smaller partners like the RJD and CPI-ML.

The Congress has already announced its first list of 22 candidates, with more names to be released in the coming days.

The election in Jharkhand will take place in two phases, with polling scheduled for November 13 and November 20, and the results will be declared on November 23.