NEW DELHI: Taking cue from the Maharashtra and Haryana election results, the Sudesh Mahto-led All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) has upped its ante before the Jharkhand Assembly elections, giving sleepless nights to the BJP. Jharkhand will go for Assembly elections later this month.
As a result, the two parties have not been able to finalise the seat-sharing formula though nomination for the first phase of polling on 30 November has already started. In contrast, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and RJD have finalised their seat sharing. As per the deal, the JMM will contest on 43, the Congress on 31 and RJD on seven seats. The alliance has also decided to project Hemant Soren as the chief ministerial candidate.
This is to be noted that the AJSU has been a key ally of the BJP in the state. It had contested eight seats in 2014 Assembly elections and won five, though Mahto himself lost from his traditional seat, Silli. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-AJSU combine had won 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP had conceded its Giridih seat in favour of AJSU, which won it. There are 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly.
Sources said that the AJSU, which had contested on eight seats in 2014 and won five, is driving a tough bargain with the BJP and has demanded 15 seats this time, maintaining that it has expanded its base in the last five years. The AJSU, sources said, has toughened its stand following results of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, where the BJP’s performance was relatively poor.
The BJP does not want to give more seats than what was given in 2014. This has sent BJP in a Catch-22 situation as the local party leaders are against giving more seats to its alliance partner.
A source said: “Sudesh Mahto has been called to Delhi for a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah as well as the Central and state leaders to finalise the seat sharing arrangement and names of the candidates. Efforts are being made to placate Mahto.”
The BJP and AJSU have been allies ever since Jharkhand came into existence in November 2000. The AJSU is unhappy as the BJP wants two of its sitting Assembly seats in the Assembly elections. On the other hand, a big cross-section within the state BJP unit is of the view that the party should snap its ties with the AJSU, if the latter continues to stick to its demand. This cross-section of state leaders is unhappy with the leadership for inducting five Opposition MLAs to the party recently.
AJSU’s Kamal Kishore Bhagat had won the Lohardagga Assembly seat in 2014. He was disqualified from the Assembly after he was convicted in a criminal case and was awarded seven years’ imprisonment. In the byelections thereafter, Congress leader Sukhdeo Bhagat won the seat. Now, Sukhdeo Bhagat has joined the BJP, which wants to field him from the constituency. The AJSU also wants the Chandankyari seat, which is currently held by BJP’s Amar Kumar Bauri, a minister.