Himanta Biswa Sarma shares NDA seats in Jharkhand elections 2024: BJP will contest 68 seats, AJSU will get 10

Himanta Biswa Sarma, co-convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Jharkhand assembly and chief minister of Assam, on Friday said about the seat-sharing of the NDA in the upcoming assembly elections. Sarma told a press conference that the seat-sharing among NDA partners in Jharkhand is almost final.

“The AJSU party, allies of the NDA, will contest 10 seats, JD(U) 2 and LJP (Ram Vilas) 1 in Jharkhand as per the seat-sharing agreement which is almost finalized,” Sarma said. This means the BJP will contest 68 of the 81 state assembly seats.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and AJSU party chief Sudesh Mahto were also present at the press conference.

During the press conference, Sarma added that while the NDA’s seat-sharing is almost final, the saffron party is adopting a ‘wait and watch’ strategy as rival parties, including Chief Minister Hemant Soren led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), are yet to reveal their plans .

Which NDA ally has Jharkhand’s cake? According to Himanta, AJSU will be competing against Dumri, Silli, Lohardaga, Gornia, Pakur, Ichagarh, Mandu, Manoharpur and Jugsalai. On the other hand, JD(U) will contest from Jamshedpur West and Tamar while LJP (Ram Vilas) has the Chatra assembly seat, Sarma said.

In the 2019 assembly polls, the BJP faced a major defeat in Jharkhand. The JMM emerged as the largest party with 30 seats while the BJP won 25 seats.

Congress won 16 seats, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) 3 and AJSU 2. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), CPI-ML and RJD won one seat each. Two independents won in the state.

Given that no party secured a clear majority, the JMM and Congress entered into a coalition to form the state government with Hemant Soren as chief minister. The halfway mark in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly is 42.

Polling for the 81-member Jharkhand assembly will be held in two phases – November 13 (phase 1) and November 20 (phase 2).

Among the seats that will go to polls in Phase 1 are Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur East, Jamshedpur West, Ichagarh, Kodarma, Barkatha, Barhi, Hatia, Baharagora, Panki, Daltonganj, Bishrampur, Hussainabad, Garhwa and Bhawanathpur.

The counting of votes in Jharkhand will take place on November 23 along with Maharashtra.