BJP and JMM Struggle to Manage Rebel Candidates Ahead of Elections in Jharkhand

New Delhi: The rebels are posing formidable challenges for both the BJP and the ruling JMM as Jharkhand prepares for the Assembly polls. Anticipating division of votes in the impending elections, the leaders of both parties are trying to woo the dissidents who have rebelled after being denied tickets. Both the BJP and the JMM want their rebels to either withdraw their nominations as Independents or pledge support for their respective parties' official candidates.

According to sources, BJP Jharkhand in-charge and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with co-in-charge and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, are personally approaching the party rebels to assuage their concerns and to get them to withdraw their nominations as Independents. The party's strategists admit that these rebels pose a "significant threat" to the BJP's poll prospects in the state.

The BJP is facing a lot of heat in the Ranchi seat, where the maximum number of rebel candidates have filed nomination papers as Independents. Local leaders like Sandeep Verma, Munchun Rai and Uttam Yadav, who till recently were talking about strengthening the party, are giving sleepless nights to BJP candidate C.P. Singh by entering the poll contest as Independents against him.

According to sources, Mr Singh, who is the sitting MLA, also believes that if the rebels contest the elections, the party’s vote share will likely get split. He said that their anger is justified, but its solution can be found only by discussing the issues within the party and not by leaving the party.

Similarly, Kamlesh Ram, after being denied the ticket, has filed his nomination as an Independent candidate and is posing a challenge to the BJP candidate Jitu Charan Ram from Kanke Assembly seat in Ranchi.

The BJP is also facing challenges from the rebel candidates of the alliance partners. The party has again fielded sitting MLA Naveen Jaiswal in Hatia Assembly constituency but is facing a challenge from Bharat Kanshi, who was lobbying for the AJSU ticket on this seat. After being denied the ticket, he has filed his nomination as an Independent.

The JMM house seems to be more in order. They have repeated at least 26 sitting MLAs, but they are also facing heat from the dissidents who were seeking party tickets but were denied, especially those who were not given tickets to accommodate the BJP turncoats.

A case in point, JMM MLA Dinesh William Marandi, who was denied the ticket to accommodate Hemlal Murmu, has threatened to contest the upcoming Assembly polls against the party's official nominee in the Litipara seat.

Citing that his father Simon Marandi was one of the founders of the JMM and worked for years to strengthen the party, Mr Marandi openly criticised chief minister and party working president Hemant Soren and said that the Soren's family has been allotted three tickets, while not a single ticket was given to Simon Marandi's family, which has an equal contribution in forming the party and strengthening it.

In Manoharpur, the JMM has nominated Lok Sabha MP Joba Manjhi’s relative Jagat Manjhi. Ms Manjhi won the last election in the 2019 polls, but she vacated the seat after winning the Lok Sabha elections. Some of the party cadres have criticised the decision to give the ticket to Jagat Manjhi and have openly come out against him.