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Journalism of Courage
As the BJP in Jharkhand battles a spate of resignations following the announcement of 66 candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls, party workers have raised concerns regarding the party’s “dynastic politics” and internal rifts.
A BJP leader said the party may pay for “the lack of focus on workers”. “The candidate announcement has led to a widespread slump in the morale of cadres.”
Since the announcement of candidates, more than a dozen BJP MLAs and leaders have quit, with many of them crossing over to the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) while others are preparing to contest as Independents. Three former MLAs – Lois Marandi, Kunal Sarangi and Lakshman Tudu – were welcomed into the JMM by party chief Hemant Soren on Monday, days after three-time legislator Kedar Hazra, who will now be the JMM candidate from Jamua, and leader of BJP ally AJSU (All Jharkhand Students’ Union) Umakant Rajak joined the party.
Lois, a former minister who is now likely to contest as the JMM candidate from Jama, penned an emotional resignation letter. “Factionalism within the party (BJP) has reached its peak. The faith and loyalty of dedicated workers are being doubted while their sentiments are being disrespected on open platforms. After her defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the manner in which BJP candidate Sita Soren has accused the top leadership of the party as well as dedicated true workers like me of deceit and betrayal shows the rapidly spreading anarchy within the party,” Lois said.
Another leader said he was “pained”. “If you see the list, the party has reposed faith in those who joined the BJP from other parties, ignoring its own dedicated workers. Of the 66 candidates declared so far, more than half are those who came from other parties,” he said.
BJP leaders who have quit and are likely to contest as Independents Satyanand Jha Batul, Mistry Soren, state working committee member Sandeep Verma and Ganesh Mahli (Saraikela).
Party workers have also accused the BJP of “catering to the whims and fancies of power centres” by nominating relatives of former CMs, Union ministers and MPs. “The dynasts have been nominated despite making no contribution to the party, to ensure that leaders like (former CMs) Arjun Munda, Raghubar Das, Champai Soren and (AJSU Party MP) C P Choudhury do not create any troubles,” one of the BJP leaders who resigned said on the condition of anonymity.
BJP has given tickets to, among others, Purnima Das Sahu, the daughter-in-law of former CM Raghubar Das; Meera Munda, the wife of Arjun Munda; Babulal Soren, the son of Champai Soren; Roshan Lal, the brother of C P Choudhary, who joined the BJP hours before the announcement of candidates; and and Satrughan Mahato, the brother of BJP MP Dhullu Mahato.
It was earlier announced by the NDA that the BJP will contest 66 of the 81 Assembly seats, while allies AJSU Party, JD(U) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest 10, two and one seat, respectively.
Verma claimed on X that he would contest the Ranchi seat as an Independent if the party did not reconsider its decision. When pointed out that Ranchi MLA C P Singh is in his sixth term, he told The Indian Express that Singh got a chance only when Yashwant Sinha vacated his seat to work on a bigger platform. “He (Singh) won the last election by just over 5,000 votes. There is anti-incumbency against him. Also, he was the Urban Development Minister. What will he be able to do for the city in the next five years when he has not done anything for the last 28? The younger generation will have better ideas,” he said.
Some other leaders expressed “disappointment” at the BJP fielding tribal leader Babulal Marandi from the general seat of Dhanwar while others said the party should have taken its Lok Sabha performance into account while deciding candidates.
“Sita Soren and Geeta Kora lost the Lok Sabha elections but have been picked for the Assembly polls. On the other hand, the party’s state chief and tribal face Marandi is contesting a non-tribal seat. Does this not show that Marandi, who defeated JMM founder Shibu Soren in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls from Dumka, is not confident of winning a ST-reserved seat this time?” a BJP leader said.
However, another BJP leader defended the party and claimed “winnability” was the only criterion that was considered even as the party’s Jharkhand election in-charge and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ruled out any large rebellion. “Champai was given certain assurances when he joined the BJP. Apart from this instance, there has been no dynastic politics. People who are with the party will remain while the others will leave. There is no large-scale rebellion,” he said.
