LJP to contest 50 seats in Jharkhand

Patna: After Maharashtra crisis, the BJP is facing challenges from its allies All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and the LJP over a seat-sharing deal for the Assembly elections which are to be held later this month.

On Tuesday newly elected LJP national president Chirag Paswan created a flutter in Jharkhand politics by announcing his decision to contest 50 out of 81 seats.

“Our Jharkhand state unit has decided to contest Assembly elections independently on 50 seats,” Chirag Paswan said in a tweet.

In his earlier statements, he had said that “the BJP delayed the issue of seat sharing and pushing it further would create trouble for the NDA in the state”.

The LJP has been in alliance with the BJP in Jharkhand since 2014. In the previous Assembly polls, the party had contested only one seat and lost.

This time the LJP was willing to contest on at least six seats as an NDA partner but after the BJP failed to resolve the issue, the party decided to field candidates on 50 seats.

However, it’s the BJP’s other ally AJSU that is likely to create trouble with its demand for larger seat share. The AJSU is considered a strong NDA partner with a large support base in the tribal belt.

According to AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto, “the BJP is to take a final call on the issue of seat-sharing. We have already sent them a list of 17 candidates and will wait for their decision before taking any step”.

On Monday the AJSU had released its list for 12 seats out of which the BJP has already announced its own candidates on four seats. The AJSU insiders said that the party had sent a list of candidates before making an announcement on Monday.

The prominent among the four seats is Chakradharpur Asse-mbly constituency where the BJP had announced the name of its state president Laxman Gilua.