Will release 1st list today: Ajsu-P chief

RANCHI: While BJP on Sunday announced candidates for 52 out of the 81 assembly seats for the upcoming polls, the fate of its pre-poll alliance with Ajsu-Party hangs in the balance.


On Sunday night, Ajsu-Party chief Sudesh Mahto headed to New Delhi to negotiate the seat-sharing deal with BJP national president Amit Shah with just three days remaining for the nominations for the first phase of polls scheduled to be held on November 30.

Before leaving for Delhi, Mahto said everything will be clear on Monday. "We will release our first list of candidates on Monday and the party manifesto on November 14," he added.

Without specifying the seats which are coming in the way of the seat-sharing deal between the two parties, Mahto said, "We have given BJP a list of 19 seats where we are strong and intend to contest. Earlier, we had given a list of 26 seats but trimmed it down later, keeping everyone's interest in mind. Now, BJP has to take a call."

Reiterating the party's stand, Ajsu-Party's central spokesperson Dev Sharan Bhagat said, " Pehle sangathan, fir gatbandhan. Hum majboori nahi, majbooti ke saath ladenge es baar (First the organisation than comes the alliance. We are fighting the polls this time not by compulsion, but with conviction)."

In the 2014 assembly polls, out of the total number of 81 seats, BJP fought on 72 and Ajsu-Party fought on 8 while one was given to LJP. This time, Ajsu-Party's is demanding more than double the seats. But Ajsu-Party's undeterred stand on Lohardaga and Chandankyari are said to be one of the biggest bone of contentions between the two parties.

Interestingly, Ajsu-Party's probable candidate in Lohardaga, Neeru Bhagat, went ahead to announce that she will file nomination on Monday. Mahto refrained from commenting on it but said he will be in Lohardaga on Monday for a pre-poll rally.

Ajsu-Party's vice president and Giridih MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary told TOI that their candidate will file nomination in Lohardaga on Monday. "Yes, our candidate will certainly file nomination on Monday," he said over the phone.

BJP's list of candidates for the first phase, which was released on Sunday, did not include Lohardaga, which is one of the 13 seats that will go for polling in the first phase.