Ranchi: bjp announced on Friday that it will contest 68 of the 81 assembly seats in the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections next month, leaving 13 seats open to NDA allies Aju Political parties, JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas).
Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) also sought a seat within the NDA ambit but was excluded.
“This is a big day for us as we have almost finalized the seat distribution among the allies. We now hope that the central leadership of the party and the central leadership of Maharashtra will announce it in the next two days Our first list of candidates. Himanta Biswa Sarmais the in-charge of the Jharkhand BJP coalition elections.
NDA agreement
- Bharatiya Janata Party: 68
- Ajsu Party (10): Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Dumri, Jugsalai (SC), Potka (ST), Icchagarh, Mandu, Pakur, Lohardaga (ST) and Manoharpur.
- JD(U): Jamshedpur (W) and Thamar (ST)
- LJP (Ram Vilas): Chatra (SC)
The seat-sharing was announced at a joint press conference at the state headquarters of the BJP in Ranchi.
The event was attended by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Sarma, Ajsu Party chief Sudesh Mahto and BJP chief Babulal Marandi.
Read more: Jharkhand election schedule 2024: Two-phase voting on November 13 and 20, results announced on November 23
The BJP has also mentioned that the seat allocation may be adjusted at the last minute, depending on the candidates fielded by the JMM and the Congress. “Any changes will be purely strategic,” Salma added.
While the BJP and Ajith Party announced a joint campaign to combine national and regional issues, the NDA camp hinted that there will not be any chief ministerial face in this election.
“The elections will be held under the leadership of our local leaders and the people of Kariyakarta. The choice of prime minister will be decided after the elections,” Sarma said.
Sudesh Mahto’s Ajsu Party will contest 10 seats, while Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) will field candidates for two seats. According to Sarma, Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest from one seat.
This time, the BJP’s vote share was down from 2019, when the party contested 79 seats and won 25. The JVM-P led by Lal Marandi contested all 81 seats independently and won three seats.
However, Mahto ruled out any dissatisfaction with his party’s reduced number of seats. “There was no disagreement about seat sharing. We were coordinating from beginning to end and we would respect each other and campaign together.
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Also read:Jharkhand election schedule 2024
(Institutional investment)
