NDA announces seat sharing for Jharkhand; BJP to contest on 68 seats, AJSU gets 10

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has officially announced its strategy for the upcoming Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha elections, revealing plans to contest 68 of the 81 assembly seats. This announcement was made during a press conference at the BJP's state headquarters in Ranchi. The party will allocate the remaining 13 seats to its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners: Ajsu Party, Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). Notably, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has been excluded from the seat-sharing arrangement, raising questions about its future role in the state's political landscape.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is co-election in-charge for Jharkhand, confirmed that the BJP's central leadership would unveil the first list of candidates within the next two days. The seat allocation breaks down as follows: the Ajsu Party will contest 10 seats, JD(U) will field candidates in 2 seats, and LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest 1 seat. Key regions allocated to these parties include Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Dumri, and Jamshedpur (West).

Sarma emphasized the strategic nature of the seat-sharing process, indicating that last-minute adjustments could be made based on the candidates fielded by rival parties, particularly the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress party. “Any changes will be purely strategic,” he stated, underscoring the BJP's readiness to adapt to the evolving electoral landscape and respond to the dynamics of their opponents.

This election cycle marks a decrease in the BJP's seat tally compared to the 2019 elections, when the party contested 79 seats and secured 25. In contrast, the Ajsu Party contested 53 seats during that election and won just 2, while Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) [JVM-P] ran independently in all 81 seats, winning 3.

Despite the lower number of seats for the Ajsu Party, Sudesh Mahto, the party president, dismissed any notions of discontent, asserting that there were no differences of opinion regarding the seat-sharing. He expressed confidence in the coalition, stating, “We have coordinated throughout, and we will respect each other and campaign jointly.”