BJP still riding high on Modi in Jharkhand, but unable to put house in order

In the last Lok Sabha elections in May 2019, out of the total 14 seats in Jharkhand, the NDA had won 12, with a vote share of 56%. This included the 4.4% votes polled by its ally, All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU), winning one seat.

By the time of the Assembly polls in December that year, though, equations had changed significantly, with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) storming to power in the state with Congress support.

Five years later, the BJP enters the Lok Sabha poll arena, starting May 13, still riding on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, but the advantage may have whittled down. And not so much because of the arrest of Heman Soren in January this year – a controversial and sentimental issue for some – but due to dissent and conflict within its own ranks.

The BJP is contesting 13 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, and the AJSU only Giridih.

Earlier this month, the BJP headquarters in Chatra district was witness to sloganeering by supporters of party leader Rajdhani Yadav.

The protests were provoked by the BJP dropping two-time sitting Chatra MP Sunil Singh and picking Kalicharan Singh instead. Yadav himself publicly expressed displeasure over not being considered for the ticket despite giving 40 years to the BJP. “The ticket has been given
to a party virodhi (an anti-party person),” he said.

A BJP worker from Chatra told The Indian Express that Kalicharan got the ticket at the last minute. “BJP workers are unhappy.”

A senior BJP leader, however, played down the protests. “It’s natural that there will be some disagreement over ticket distribution. We name candidates after detailed deliberations.”

In Dhanbad, Banghmara MLA Dhullu Mahato, who has been given the ticket over three-time sitting MP Pashupati Nath Singh,