Jharkhand Polls 2024: BJP's internal rebellion turns Hazaribagh contest triangular

The BJP fielded Pradeep Prasad as its candidate for this seat, while the Congress fielded Munna Singh. Harsh Ajmera, a young former BJP leader, expressed his dissatisfaction with the party's ticket distribution and decided to file his nomination as an independent candidate.

Harsh Ajmera, a youth leader with a strong following among young voters in Hazaribagh, claimed that the BJP had made a wrong decision by giving the ticket to someone with a tainted image of being involved in land mafia activities. He said, "It is the need of the people to have a better representative, and that's why I am contesting as an independent."

After Manish Jaiswal's election to the Lok Sabha, this assembly seat became vacant, and both the BJP and Congress fielded new candidates. Both parties are confident about their chances of winning the seat.

Pradeep Prasad, BJP's candidate, stated, "This seat is our stronghold, and we will retain it. After Yogi Adityanath's public rally in Hazaribagh, the atmosphere shifted in our favour. The people of Jharkhand are fed up with the JMM-Congress alliance government. In this election, the people of Jharkhand will vote for the BJP, and we will form a strong government here." He also raised the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration and demographic change in the state, adding, "If we come to power, we will remove these infiltrations from the state."

On the other hand, Munna Singh, a Rajput candidate fielded by the Congress, is fired up for the contest and confident in his chances against both the BJP and the rebel candidate. He said, "The work done by Hemant Soren's government in the last five years is visible to the people of Jharkhand. The Maiya Samman Yojna, especially, will be a boost for women in Jharkhand. Soon, Rahul Gandhi will hold a public rally in support of the India Alliance, which will give us even more momentum."

The Hazaribagh seat is a stronghold of OBCs, with a large number of Muslim voters who are expected to play a decisive role in this election.

This seat has traditionally been dominated by the BJP, with Manish Jaiswal winning in both the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections.

However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party gave the ticket to Manish Jaiswal, and he won the seat. After that, the BJP faced difficulty in finding the right candidate for the assembly seat.

The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23.

A total of 2.6 crore voters are eligible to participate, including 1.31 crore male and 1.29 crore female voters, as well as 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 66.84 lakh young voters.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 seats, and the Congress won 16 seats. In 2014, the BJP won 37 seats, JMM won 19 seats, and Congress won just 6 seats. (ANI)