BJP to contest 68 seats in Jharkhand assembly elections, allies get 13

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday announced seat sharing for the upcoming assembly polls, with the BJP set to contest 68 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly.

The BJP will contest the polls in alliance with All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal-United (JDU) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas).

Announcing the seat sharing at a joint press conference with AJSU party at BJP state headquarters in Ranchi, Assam chief minister and BJP’s Jharkhand election co-incharge Himanta Biswa Sarma, said, “We have arrived at consensus that the AJSU will contest 10 seats, the JDU would contest two seats and LJP would contest one seat. The rest of the seats would be contested by BJP.”

AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto and other party leaders besides union agriculture minister Shivraj Chouhan and Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi were also present at the event.

Also Read: Jharkhand assembly elections: Voting to be held in 2 phases starting Nov 13, results on Nov 23

AJSU will contest Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Jugsalai (SC), Ichagarh, Lohardaga (ST), Pakur, Manoharpur (ST), Mandu and Dumri. The JDU would contest Jamsedhpur West and Tamar (ST) while the LJP (R) would contest Chatra (SC).

Sarma, however, underlined that the alliance partners could make one or two changes after assessing the ground situation following seat and candidate declaration of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc alliance.

Jharkhand will go to polls in two phases, on November 13 and November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.

The current Jharkhand assembly’s term will end on January 5, 2025.