BJP may contest without ally in Jharkhand

After winning 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is determined to go it alone in the upcoming assembly elections.

BJP national vice president Raghubar Das told IANS: "Our party will contest on its own strength in the assembly polls. There is no question of forging an alliance with any party.

"People of the state are with the BJP. This was evident in the Lok Sabha election."

Jharkhand will witness a five-phase poll on Nov 25 and Dec 2, 9, 14 and 20.

The BJP fought the 2009 assembly polls in alliance with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U). It won 18 seats.

This was far less than the 33 seats it had won in 2000, which slipped to 30 in 2005.

The Jharkhand BJP is divided in two groups. One favours an alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) while the other wants to go it alone.

BJP national vice president Raghubar Das, a former state president and a former deputy chief minister, is against any alliance. Another senior leader, Yashwant Sinha, is also opposed to alliances.

"Why should we go for any alliance when people are with us?" Sinha asked recently. "The Modi factor is enough." he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP is working on a mission to win 55 of the 81 seats in the state. In the Lok Sabha battle, the BJP led in 58 assembly segments.