BJP is close to finalising the seat-sharing deal for Jharkhand Assembly elections, aiming to contest 65-70 seats with JDU and AJSU.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is close to finalising the seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA alliance for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections, which are expected to take place later this year, alongside the Maharashtra Assembly elections. While the Election Commission of India is yet to announce the dates, all parties have already begun their preparations. BJP has confirmed it will contest the elections in alliance with Janata Dal United (JDU) and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) under the NDA banner. However, the party has remained silent on the involvement of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) which has expressed interest in contesting the Jharkhand elections. The exact number of seats each party will contest has also not been disclosed. A source within the BJP told the media, that the decision has been made, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.
A senior BJP leader from Jharkhand, said on the condition of anonymity, that the party plans to contest 65-70 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. AJSU is likely to get 9-12 seats, while Nitish Kumar’s JDU may receive 2-5 seats, despite initially requesting 10. The leader emphasised that BJP would not allocate more than 10-15 seats to its allies, with the party itself contesting around 65-70 seats.
He said JDU had initially sought the Jamshedpur East seat for sitting MLA Saryu Rai, but the BJP, which lost the seat to him in 2019, also showed interest. Due to internal opposition within BJP, they agreed to offer JDU the Jamshedpur West seat instead. Saryu Rai, who previously served as MLA from Jamshedpur West, is expected to run from there, with JDU finalising the decision through high-level discussions.
In 2019, Rai left the Jamshedpur West seat to defeat BJP’s Raghubar Das in Jamshedpur East. Now, BJP has decided to retain Jamshedpur East but will offer JDU the Jamshedpur West seat. JDU is also likely to get the Tamar seat, possibly for Raja Peter. Meanwhile, seat-sharing talks with AJSU continue, with the party requesting 11 seats and BJP offering nine. A compromise is being reached on the Ichagarh and Chandankyari seats. An official announcement on seat-sharing is expected soon, as indicated by Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also BJP’s co-in-charge for the Jharkhand elections, told the media that seat-sharing among the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies has been finalised, with an official announcement set to be made during Navratri, after the ‘Pitru Paksh’ period. He confirmed that the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and the Janata Dal-United (JDU) will contest the elections with BJP under the NDA banner. However, he did not clarify whether the LJP (RV) would also contest under the NDA alliance. Previously, LJP (RV) Chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan had stated that his party would contest the Jharkhand Assembly elections independently, if alliance talks were not successful. The party had claimed to have a strong presence in 14 Assembly seats in Jharkhand, and is part of the NDA at the national level.