The battle-line is being slowly drawn between the JMM led ruling alliance and the BJP opposition over upcoming by-poll of Dumka and Bermo assembly seat, but the BJP is undecided about the right candidates who can grab twin seats from the JMM and the Congress respectively.
The BJP is particularly facing a tricky situation as the AJSU Party keen to return to the NDA fold is learnt to have requested BJP leadership to leave Bermo seat for AJSU Party.
In the last assembly election, the JMM and the Congress had wrested both seats from the BJP. Dumka seat fell vacant following resignation of Chief minister Hemant Soren who had won the Barhet seat also. By-poll of Bermo seat was necessitated following the death of sitting Congress MLA Rajendra prasad Singh.
The by-poll for both seats is likely to be held in November.
It is widely understood that the chief minister and JMM boss will pick a person from his family for Dumka seat since Dumka is more a personal borough of the Soren family than the JMM stronghold. In Bermo also the Congress elder son of deceased MLA is expected to be picked.
But the BJP is caught over the choice of candidates for obvious political reasons.
Sources in the BJP said that a section of the party feels that Babulal Marandi should be fielded as a candidate from Dumka.
“Though we have a couple of good candidates in Dumka like former minister Louis Marandi but Babulal Marandi as candidate is an idea which is quite dominating.
Winning Dumka assembly seat will have a deep psychological and political impact on the JMM. We had defeated JMM patriarch Shibu Soren from Dumka parliamentary seat in the 2019 election. Babulalji is known for the politics of Dumka and Santhal Pargana,” said an office bearer of the party.
Marandi joined the BJP in February this year along with merger of his party; the JVM in the BJP.
He quit the BJP in 2006. Right after that Marandi was elected as leader of the opposition party. But the matter is pending because of technical and legal objections raised by the assembly speaker.
“The BJP is not going to compromise over constitutional status of Marandi as leader of opposition that the assembly speaker is trying to prevent with various pretexts. If Marandi contests and wins it will be a moral victory for the BJP. But there is still time to discuss candidates and strategies,” said another leader.
But it is not sure whether Marandi will favour such ideas.
Similarly, for Bermo seat a couple of names are doing rounds around the corners like former Giridih MP Ravindra Pandey, former MLA Yogeshwar Mahto Batul and few others. But the Ajsu Party which extended support to the BJP in the recently held Rajya Sabha election wants the BJP to spare this seat for the Ajsu Party.
The Ajsu Party walked away from the NDA fold ahead of last the assembly election following differences over seat sharing formula. This break in the alliance inflicted huge electoral damage to the BJP as well as the Ajsu Party.
“Both parties should take lessons out of the last assembly election. The AJSU Party always maintained the dignity of a junior alliance partner. Now the by-poll of two seats are set to be held. I wish the BJP takes initiative for a united fight so that we win both seats. I believe that very soon both parties will discuss this issue,” said Deosharan Bhagat; spokesperson of the AJSU Party.