Lok Sabha elections | BJP to face a tough fight in Jharkhand this time

BJP faces internal challenges in Jharkhand ahead of Lok Sabha elections, with tribal opposition and ticket distribution issues.

Despite its dominance in the last three Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised for a tough battle this time due to internal rumblings, resentment among the rank and file of the party over ticket distribution and tribal opposition in pockets, party leaders said.

The State with 14 Lok Sabha seats is scheduled to go to polls in four phases beginning May 13.

The BJP is contesting from 13 constituencies as per a seat-sharing pact with ally AJSU Party which will field its candidate from Giridih Lok Sabha seat.

“Barring three, the BJP has given tickets to those who have come to the party either ahead of the Lok Sabha polls or earlier. This has sent a bad signal to the old-timers. What comes as a shock to us is the nomination of Baghmara MLA Dulu Mahto for the Dhanbad constituency. The party dropped sitting MP Pashupati Nath Singh. This has triggered a revolt among a section of our workers and upper caste voters,” a BJP activist said.

Incidentally, Mr. Mahto, who was with the Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (JVM) earlier, was embroiled in about two dozen cases and joined the BJP in 2014.

Though none of the senior BJP leaders commented on this, the Congress' state unit president Rajesh Thakur attacked the party, stating that "the BJP is contesting elections on borrowed players. Its workers feel cheated after such a decision. The saffron camp is in a state of jittery.”

The BJP replaced its candidate and sitting MP Sunil Soren from the Dumka seat with Sita Soren, who had joined the party on March 20. Ms. Soren is a three-term MLA and elder daughter-in-law of JMM supremo Shibu Soren. Notably, Mr. Sunil Soren had defeated the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha patriarch by 47,590 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.