Jharkhand polls: NDA 'almost' finalises seat sharing; BJP gets 68, AJSU 10

Jharkhand elections: The BJP is likely to contest 68 seats, but discussions are ongoing in the final stages, Assam CM Himanta Sarma said at a press conference in Ranchi

The Jharkhand Assembly elections have begun to take shape with the National Democratic Alliance announcing a tentative seat-sharing deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AJSU, Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). As part of the agreement, AJSU Party will contest 10 seats, JD(U) two and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) one, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the BJP co-in-charge for Jharkhand Assembly elections, said on Friday.

“NDA allies AJSU Party will contest 10 seats, JD(U) two, and LJP (Ram Vilas) one in Jharkhand as per the seat-sharing arrangement, which is almost finalised,” Himanta said at a press conference in Ranchi. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto were also present at the briefing.

The BJP is likely to contest 68 seats, but discussions are ongoing in the final stages. Himanta said that the NDA was in ‘wait and watch’ mode, indicating that a final list would be out once they get to know what Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and others were planning.

Election schedule for Jharkhand polls

According to the details shared by the Election Commission, the Jharkhand election will take place in two phases: November 13 and November 20. The counting will take place on November 23. Maharashtra will also go to polls in November, the outcome of which will be announced alongside Jharkhand.

Which seats will AJSU fight on?

There are 81 Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand, of which 28 are reserved for scheduled tribes (STs), and nine for scheduled castes (SCs). According to the deal, AJSU has secured the constituencies of Gomia, Jugsalai, Lohardaga, Ichagarh, Ramgarh, Dumri, Silli, Pakur, Mandu, and Manoharpur.

Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) will contest in Jamshedpur West and Tamar. Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest from Chatra.

The current term of the Jharkhand Assembly concludes on January 5. In the 2019 elections, the JMM successfully ousted the BJP by winning 30 seats, while the BJP secured 25 seats and Congress took 16. The state's eligible voting population is about 26 million. The Congress has said that it will fight the polls, maintaining its existing alliance with the JMM.

On Friday, the nomination filing process for the first phase began, which will continue until October 25. The withdrawal of nominations can be done until October 30, according to the election officials.