Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Assam CM and BJP’s Jharkhand in-charge Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday announced the seat-sharing deal for next month’s Assembly elections in Jharkhand.
Speaking at the party’s headquarters in Ranchi, Sarma said that out of 81 assembly seats, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party would fight on 10 seats while JD(U) would contest on 2 seats and Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will fight on 1 seat.
“We have arrived at consensus that the AJSU will contest 10 seats, the JDU will contest two seats and LJP will contest one seat. The rest of the seats will be contested by BJP,” Sarma said.
“The AJSU will fight from 10 seats – Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Ichagarh, Mandu, Jugsalai, Pakur, Lohardaga, Manoharpur, Dumri. In addition to that, Jamshedpur West and Tamar will go to the JD(U), while Chatra will go to the LJP. The remaining seats the BJP will contest,” he added.
Of these, Jugasalai and Chatra are SC reserved constituencies, while Lohardaga, Manoharpur and Tamar are ST reserved constituencies. The seat sharing arrangement left out the Hindustani Awam Morcha of NDA partner Jitan Ram Manjhi who has been keen on contesting in the state.
While making the announcement, Sarma also said that after the INDIA Alliance announces their candidates, the NDA partners could make small changes to the lists of candidates. “Any changes, purely for strategic purposes, cannot be ruled out now,” Sarma said.
On a query on who will be the chief ministerial face of the Alliance, Sarma said that no such decision has been made yet. “The elections will be contested under the leadership of our local leaders and Karyakartas. The CM face will be decided after the elections,” Sarma said.
The press briefing was also attended by union minister Shivraj Chouhan, AJSU president Sudesh Mahto, and BJP state president Babulal Marandi.
Elections to the 81-member assembly will be held in two phases – on November 13 and November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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