Hemant Soren joins Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge for a chat

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi met Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in Delhi on Wednesday, 9 October, as the Congress–JMM alliance gets battle-ready for the assembly polls in the state later this year.

The meeting at Kharge's residence in Delhi comes a day after the Congress' shock defeat in the Haryana assembly polls and a win in Jammu Kashmir in alliance with the National Conference.

Sources said preparations for the upcoming assembly elections were discussed at the meeting, with both the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) looking to clinch a seat-sharing deal at the earliest and begin campaigning.

The Congress, JMM, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties are looking to retain power in Jharkhand, with the BJP set to launch an aggressive campaign to wrest power away from them.

Soren's wife Kalpana Soren and Congress general secretary (in-charge, organisation) K.C. Venugopal were also present in the meeting.

The Congress is looking to take the allies on board and settle a seat-sharing deal soon in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, both of which have elections ahead.