The Jharkhand assembly election is shaping up as a direct contest between the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led INDIA bloc and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), although both the camps are yet to announce the seat sharing formula officially.  However, sources said that NDA has in-principle agreed on seat sharing formula and it was indicated a few days back by Assam Chief Minister and Jharkhand BJP election co-in-charge Hemanta Biswa Sarma.

Sarma had said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest between 69 to 70 seats, while ally AJSU is expected to contest 9 to 11 seats. Janata Dal (United) may receive 2 to 3 seats.

The BJP is expected to release its first list of candidates today, with around 60 names already approved by the Central Election Committee. The elections are scheduled for two phases: voting on November 13 for 43 seats and November 20 for 38 seats, with the results to be declared on November 23.

AJSU party will contest elections on 10 assembly seats in Jharkhand. According to information received from sources, AJSU has got 10 seats in the NDA folder. AJSU's seats include Silli, Ramgarh, Gomia, Jugsalai, Manoharpur, Pakur, Dumri, Mandu, Ichagarh and Lohardaga.

Sources said that this time BJP does not want to leave its alliance partner unlike the previous election (2019). In 2019, the JMM, Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) formed a pre-poll alliance, then known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and wrested power from the BJP-led NDA government headed by Raghubar Das. The alliance secured a majority of 47 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly.

The BJP had then parted ways with ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) but the two tied up in the aftermath, and fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where they secured nine seats in the state, with BJP winning eight of them.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the INDIA alliance won five of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The NDA’s umbrella is set to expand in the state, with the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also keen to fight together in the state.

The seats which will go to the JDU kitty are Jamshedpur East and Tamar. From Jamshedpur East former minister Saryu Roy will try his luck while Tamar Raja Peter who joined JDU few months back will be in the fray. However, JDU is yet to announce the candidature from any seats yet.

Jamshedpur East is a prestigious seat as in the last Assembly election expelled BJP leader and former minister Saryu Roy  defeated then Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

Being hailed as a ‘giant killer’, Saryu Roy, who was the MLA from Jamshedpur West, but decided to contest against Das as an Independent candidate after BJP did not give him a ticket in the elections.

Like Jamshedpur East, Tamar too shares similar history as in 2009 by poll, Gopal Krishna Patar popularly known as Raja Peter defeated Jharkhand then Chief Minister Shibu Soren in the Tamar by-election by a margin of almost 9,000 votes at a time when Soren desperately needed this victory to save his chief minister's post.