The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held its partner AJSU Party responsible for not being able to reach a seat-sharing arrangement in Jharkhand. The state will go to polls in five phases between November 30 and December 20.
BJP’s state unit president Laxman Gilua said that the party was offering 13 to 14 seats to Sudesh Kumar Mahto’s party against eight seats given to him in 2014. He added that except for two-three seats, AJSU candidates can’t make any dent into the BJP’s poll prospects.
“The BJP had given eight seats to the AJSU party in 2014 assembly polls. This time, the party was ready to consider 13 to 14 seats. But AJSU president Sudesh Mahto was rigid on his claim of 18 to 22 seats,” Gilua said.
The AJSU was demanding 17 seats from the BJP, a demand turned down by the saffron party. This prompted the AJSU to field candidates on seats where their candidates will take on the BJP nominees. AJSU’s president Sudesh Kumar Mahto had earlier said his party had given a list of 17 candidates for consideration by the BJP.
“The BJP is a national party and should be respected as such. They should have agreed on seats proportionately,” Gilua said.
The Jharkhand Legislative Assembly has 81 seats. While the BJP has announced the names of 73 candidates, the AJSU Party has released lists of 27 candidates. Till now, the two NDA partners will come face to face in 19 constituencies.
Notably, none of them has officially admitted that they have parted ways. This means the BJP and AJSU may forge a post-poll alliance. The BJP and the AJSU have been allies ever since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.
The Lok Jana Shakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan is also contesting the elections alone in Jharkhand. The party is contesting from at least 52 seats. Result of the five-phase elections will be announced on December 23.