Failure to cling to alliance reason for loss: Raghubar Das

Ranchi, Dec 23: The outgoing Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das on Monday said the BJP's failure to cling on to the alliance with the AJSU party and the opposition parties' ability to keep their coalition intact are the reasons for the its loss in the assembly election.

He, however, said it was his defeat, and not of the BJP. As per the trends available on the Election Commission website at 10 pm, Das was trailing BJP rebel candidate and former minister Saryu Roy by over 15,000 votes in Jamshedpur (East) constituency.

"Our alliance could not happen while the opposition coalition remained intact. The party will review all the points (that led to the defeat) and try to plug the loopholes," he told reporters after submitting his resignation letter to Governor Droupadi Murmu.

The BJP and the AJSU party, which had been in alliance since the creation of the state 19 years ago, failed to reach a seat-sharing formula and poached each other's leaders to field them in the assembly elections.

Das, whose government is first one to complete five years in the state, said, "I have honestly worked for the development of Jharkhand, providing electricity, roads and other schemes, covering every section of the society. In future also, I will serve as a BJP worker as party has always been working for the building of nation."

About the party's target of winning 65 seats in the 81-member assembly, he said one should always set a big goal. "Win and loss is a part of democracy. I don't go ga ga over wins and get upset at losses. I assure the people to provide a constructive role in the development of the state and the nation as an opposition party," he said.

The BJP contested 79 seats, supported an Independent candidate in one constituency and did not put up nominee against AJSU Party president Sudesh Mahto.

The saffron party's Bihar allies--the JD(U) and LJP-- contested the elections on their own and none of their candidates was leading anywhere.