RANCHI: Interestingly, of the 13 Parliamentary constituencies the BJP is contesting in Jharkhand, the party has given tickets to three women candidates who switched over either from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM), Congress or the RJD.
Dumka candidate Sita Soren has recently joined BJP after quitting the JMM, Chaibasa candidate Geeta Koda has come from the Congress party, while Annapurna Devi, basically from RJD, had joined BJP ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls and was declared winner from Koderma. However, the party leaders said that in order to achieve a larger target of ‘400-paar,’ only the win-ability factor is being taken into consideration.
“In order to achieve the target of 400-paar, everyone has to make sacrifices for the party. Candidates have been given tickets considering their chances of winning from the seat as the primary objective of the party, or the party workers for that matter, is to cross the mark of 400 seats in Parliament,” said a senior BJP functionary requesting anonymity.
He, however, said that such a move upset the party cadres and leaders who have been working hard in their areas, but they have to make compromises in the interest of the party and the country, he added.
The BJP functionary also informed that such candidates have been given tickets only after they expressed confidence over the ideology of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Those who had been working hard in the field and were not given tickets in Lok Sabha polls this time will be compensated in some other way, he said.
Interestingly, if looked at the broader picture, out of the 13, only three are core party workers and the remaining ten are those who were formerly associated with other parties or have returned to BJP again after trying their luck in some other parties.
Barring former IPS officer BD Ram, former Director of Essar Group of Companies, Nishikant Dubey and Sameer Oraon, who is a core BJP cadre, others were formerly associated either with JMM, AJSU or the Congress. Union Minister and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda is also a former JMM cadre who joined the BJP even before Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000. In the current political scenario, it is amply clear that BJP’s core party workers have been left far behind than those who have been switching their loyalties as per their convenience.
There are 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand, out of which BJP will contest on 13 seats while its ally AJSU will contest from Giridih Lok Sabha seat. The general election in Jharkhand will be held in or before May 2024 to elect 14 members of 18th Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand will be held in four phases on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.
