Even as the BJP lost its trusted Hindutva ally of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, it faces a similar danger in poll-bound Jharkhand. The party allies of AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) are on the warpath. And, most of it has to do with seat sharing. In the first list of candidates for 12 seats announced by the AJSU, four overlap with BJP candidates in Simaria, Sindri, Mandu and Chakradharpur, NDTV reported. In Chakradharpur, the BJP had named its state chief Laxman Gilua.
Its other ally Lok Janshakti Party, with its national president Chirag Paswan, even said they were ready to contest the coming assembly polls on its own. BJP has announced candidates for most of the seats in the state which the LJP had sought from the saffron party as a partner of the NDA.
Paswan had categorically said that LJP would like to contest assembly elections in Jharkhand under the banner of NDA and conveyed this to the alliance leaders. "Now, there are no talks on contesting polls as an alliance. LJP is ready to contest assembly elections on its own," he told reporters here.
LJP will not accept seats given to it as a "token" this time, Paswan said. "We had demanded six seats as part of the alliance(NDA) but BJP on Sunday declared candidates for most of the seats that we had demanded."
"If we are offered seats under the alliance where our party (LJP) is not prepared properly or does not have strong candidates, then we will not contest such seats," he said.
AJSU had re-nominated party president Sudesh Kumar Mahto to contest from Silli assembly constituency. Mahto had lost the seat in 2014 assembly polls. The party also named Jharkhand Water Resources Minister Ramchandra Sahis to contest from Jugsalai. Former minister Umakant Razzak has been re-nominated to contest from Chandankiyari, which he lost in the last polls. Niru Shanti Bhagat, who has been re-nominated from Lohardaga, is the wife of party leader Kamal Kishore Bhagat, who won the seat in 2014, but was disqualified after his conviction in a case.
Jharkhand will vote in five phases, with the first on November 30 and the last on December 20. Results will be declared on December 23. The Congress will contest with its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
