After Maharashtra, Jharkhand NDA in turmoil
Ranchi, Nov 12: The BJP is contesting the Jharkhand Assembly polls in alliance with the AJSU. The BJP released the first list of 52 candidates for the Assembly polls in the state on Sunday. AJSU has rebuffed BJP's offer of 9 seats and announced candidates in 12.
A defiant AJSU has already fielded a candidate in the Chakradharpur Assembly seat, for which the BJP has named its state chief Laxman Gilua.
LJP to contest alone
Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan announced on Tuesday that his party will contest 50 seats in the Jharkhand assembly elections, scheduled to be held in five phases between November 30 and December 20. "The state unit of the party had to take a decision on fighting the Jharkhand assembly polls. It has decided that the Lok Janshakti Party will contest 50 seats on its own," Paswan said. Though the LJP was keen for an alliance with the BJP, the saffron party was reluctant as its leaders believed that the regional party did not have much to offer electorally in the state.
JDU not in alliance with BJP
The Janata Dal (United), an NDA ally headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Sunday announced that it would go it alone in the upcoming assembly polls in neighbouring Jharkhand.
After Maharashtra, a setback from Jharkhand
It's a major a setback for the BJP, which was left red-faced in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party - its 30-year-old alliance partner - snubbed it over government formation in the state.
BJP's 2nd list likely today
The BJP is likely to release its second list of candidates on Tuesday. The party has already announced names of its 52 candidates, denying tickets to 10 sitting legislators. Cabinet ministers Saryu Rai, Neelkant Singh Munda and Amar Kumar Bauri names are yet to be figured in the list.
What happened in 2014 elections?
In the last state election, the BJP contested on 72 seats, AJSU eight seats and LJP one seat. The BJP took home 37 seats and AJSU five, but LJP scored a duck.
The Congress will contest on 31 seats, its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on 43 seats and the rest has gone to jailed leader Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Former chief minister and JMM chief Hemant Soren is leading the campaign for the alliance.
In 2014, the JMM took 19 seats, the Congress only six from the 62 it contested and the RJD drew a blank.