Jharkhand: Five-time MP cries foul as BJP sets aside seat for ally

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Announcing the alliance on March 9, the BJP had said it would contest 13 seats, leaving one for the AJSU. The AJSU was said to have been keen on both Hazaribagh and Giridih. Pandey had won Giridih in 2014 with 3.91 lakh votes, closely followed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Jagarnath Mahto. AJSU candidate Umesh Chandra Mehta had polled 55,531 votes.

Both the JMM and AJSU claim influence among the Kurmis, an OBC community that has its base in Giridih. The BJP’s decision to give Giridih to the AJSU may have been prompted by its hopes to consolidate the Kurmi votes. Though the BJP and AJSU fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections separately, they fought the Assembly elections in an alliance.

While BJP Giridih president Sunil Kumar Aggarwal indicated the central leadership may review its decision, BJP MP from Koderma and former president of the party’s state unit Ravindra Kumar Ray said it was “still not clear” if Giridih had gone to the AJSU. “It will be unwise to give this seat away.”

AJSU spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat said, “We had a meeting with booth-level workers and based on the feedback collected, decided to contest from Giridih.”

Six Assembly seats fall under Giridih parliamentary constituency — Dumri, Gomia, Bermo, Tundi, Giridih and Baghmara. AJSU had won from Tundi in the 2014 Assembly elections and lost by a thin margin, the 2018 Gomia Assembly bypoll, which was necessitated following the conviction of sitting JMM legislator Yogendra Prasad Mahto in a coal theft case. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Babita Devi had won and AJSU’s Lambodar Mahto lost by 1,300 votes. In other seats: JMM won from Dumri, Congress from Bermo and the BJP from Baghmara and Giridih.