BJP to contest 68 Assembly seats in Jharkhand, allies 13

The BJP on Friday said it will contest the upcoming Assembly polls in Jharkhand in alliance with AJSU, JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas). Under the arrangement, the saffron party will contest 68 seats, AJSU 10, JD(U) 2 and LJP (Ram Vilas) 1, though a final decision will be made soon.

Elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held in two phases, on November 13 and November 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s co-in-charge for Jharkhand Assembly elections, said NDA constituents All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) will contest 10 seats, Janata Dal (United) two and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) one.

Sarma said while the seat-sharing arrangement is nearly finalised, the BJP is adopting a “wait and watch” strategy as rival parties, including the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, are yet to disclose their plans.

Sarma said: “NDA allies AJSU will contest 10 seats, JD(U) 2, and LJP (Ram Vilas) 1 in Jharkhand as per the seat-sharing arrangement, which is almost finalised.”

AJSU, JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas) are valuable partners of BJP, he said. AJSU will contest from Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Ichagarh, Mandu, Jugsalai, Dumri, Pakur, Lohardaga and Manoharpur. JD(U) will field candidates in Jamshedpur West and Tamar, while LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest from Chatra, he said.

Sarma made these remarks in the presence of Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto. “We will fight the elections under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and on the agenda of development,” Sarma said. Chouhan said the central leadership had decided the NDA would jointly contest the elections in the state to “save the identity of Jharkhand and to protect ‘Mati, Beti, and Roti’ (land, daughter and bread).”