Ranchi, Oct 23 (IANS) Galvanised by the union cabinet’s recommendation to dissolve the Jharkhand assembly, political parties in the state have begun gearing up for the impending elections.
Following the cabinet recommendation Thursday evening, parties began the task of contacting block workers to mobilise voters at the grassroots level.

The cabinet decision coincided with the results of assembly elections in three states and the visit of Home Minister P. Chidambaram who Thursday said the Election Commission would announce dates for the elections in a few days.

Jharkhand has been under president’s rule since Jan 19 after then chief minister Shibu Soren lost the assembly by-election needed to remain in power.

The Congress is upbeat following its victory in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh — it is slated to take power in Haryana too after getting the support of seven newly elected Independent legislators. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which got a drubbing in the assembly elections, hopes to recover lost ground and says the situation in Jharkhand is different.

“The victory of the Congress will continue even in Jharkhand. Under the leadership of party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, we have won three states, and now it is Jharkhand’s turn. The Congress will form government in Jharkhand,” said union Food Processing Minister and Ranchi Lok Sabha member Subodh Kant Sahay.

State BJP president Raghubar Das was equally confident and said: “There will be no impact of the outcome of the three states as the situation in Jharkhand is different. Here people have made up their mind to vote for the BJP.”

“If the Congress was so confident of victory, why did it not dissolve the assembly to hold elections along with the three states?” he asked.

The BJP president cited the example of the Lok Sabha elections in which the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in the state. “The Congress lost its sitting seats and BJP won eight of the 14 seats, which indicates the mood of the people of the state.”

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has said elections should take place at the earliest. “There is a wave against communal forces in the country. The RJD will perform well in the upcoming assembly elections,” said Girinath, an RJD legislator.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) of former chief minister and Lok Sabha member Babulal Marandi welcomed the decision to dissolve the assembly, but said it was a long delayed move.