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Jharkhand elections: BJP keeps 68 seats; allies get 13
The announcement was made by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finalised its seat-sharing arrangement in Jharkhand on Friday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcing that it will fight on 68 out of 81 assembly seats in the elections next month.
The announcement was made by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, both of whom are the election in-charges for the BJP. The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party - Ram Vilas are the allies of the BJP.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters in Ranchi, Sarma said the AJSU party will contest 10 seats, the JD(U) two and the LJP (RV) one. He, however, added that the seat-sharing deal among the NDA partners may undergo a slight change after assessing the ground situation, as rival parties, including the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), are yet to disclose their plans.
“We have arrived at a consensus that the AJSU party will contest 10 seats, JD(U) two, and LJP (RV) one in Jharkhand. The rest of the seats will be fought by the BJP,” Sarma said at the conference, which was also attended by state BJP chief Babulal Marandi and AJSU party president Sudesh Mahto.
The AJSU party will contest from Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Ichagarh, Mandu, Jugsalai, Dumri, Pakur, Lohardaga, and Manoharpur. The JD(U) will field candidates in Jamshedpur West and Tamar, while LJP (RV) will contest from Chatra, Sarma said. “We will fight the elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and on the agenda of development,” he added.
Mahto said the deal was finalised after all NDA partners arrived at a consensus. “Our effort is to ensure that we contest together, which is also the sentiment of the people of this state, and uproot the present regime that has left the state in tatters,” he said.
In the 2019 elections, the JMM, Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) formed a pre-poll alliance and wrested power from the BJP-led NDA government headed by Raghubar Das. The JMM-led alliance secured a majority of 47 seats in the 81-member assembly.
In 2019, the BJP fought alone, contesting 79 seats and winning 25. The AJSU party contested 53 seats and won two.
The AJSU party returned to the NDA fold during the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year and won the sole Giridih seat allotted to the party. The BJP won eight of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, while the INDIA bloc won five.
At the press conference, Chouhan said the central leadership decided that the NDA will jointly contest the elections in the state to “save the identity of Jharkhand and to protect ‘Mati, Beti, and Roti (land, daughter, and bread)’.” He expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc, which he blamed for the misrule in the state, will be ousted.
The state JD(U) chief Khiru Mahto and LJP (RV) state president Virendra Pradhan could not be contacted for a comment.
The JMM described the NDA as an “unholy alliance”.
“It’s a very strange, unholy arrangement which has primarily been done to loot this state. One party (LJP-RV), which has one minister at the Centre, is settling for only one seat. The party (JD-U), which is pivotal for survival of the government at the Centre, has accepted two seats. And the third (AJSU) party which was forming ‘Gaon Ki Sarkar’ last time by fighting alone is now happy with 10 seats,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said.
