NEW DELHI: Hours after the Election Commission announced poll dates for the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) met at the party headquarters on Tuesday to select candidates and firm up strategy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh were among the CEC members who deliberated on the probable list of nominees. Jharkhand election in-charge Shivraj Singh Chouhan, co-in-charge Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union ministers Annapurna Devi and Sanjay Seth were also present, besides the party’s Jharkhand unit chief Babulal Marandi and former Union minister Arjun Munda.
“Modi expressed confidence about outcomes in both Jharkhand and Maharashtra, and asked the committee to consider candidates with clean and non-controversial backgrounds,” said a party leader aware of the developments.
The Jharkhand BJP core committee had earlier prepared a list of potential candidates after discussions with the state unit and a recent meeting with Nadda on October 7.
“A comprehensive candidate list was discussed, which included allocation of seats for allies from Bihar and Jharkhand. NDA partners JDU and LJP (RV) got special attention,” the party leader said.
While the BJP is set to contest the election in a coalition with the JD(U) and All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) Party, it may also consider forging a pre-poll alliance with the LJP(RV), led by Union minister Chirag Paswan.
The Jharkhand party unit proposed three candidates for each of the 81 assembly seats based on specific criteria. CEC members agreed to field only strong, influential, and non-controversial candidates to minimise the opposition’s winning chances, sources said.
While no official statements were released after the meeting, sources revealed that discussions encompassed over 80% of the assembly seats and candidates for the first phase of polls were approved. “Candidates for 43 constituencies, which will vote in the first phase on November 13, have been finalised,” a source said.
Following approval of the list, the BJP is likely to announce the names for the 43 seats either by Wednesday or shortly after another CEC meeting focused on Maharashtra is held.
Sources said that a number of sitting MLAs might be replaced to bring in new faces from OBCs, SCs and STs, along with a balanced representation to women candidates. The party has sought feedback from grassroots workers, MPs and others, with winnability and social dynamics being key factors in candidate selection.
The second phase of polling for the remaining 38 seats is scheduled for November 20. In the 2019 assembly elections, the JMM won 30 seats, BJP 25 and the Congress 16. The JMM, Congress and RJD (1 seat) formed a coalition government with a comfortable majority.
Former Jharkhand CM Champai Soren, who recently joined the BJP after quitting the JMM, also participated in the CEC meeting.
