Flood of leaders from various political parties and prominent personalities across the state has become a new reason to worry for workers and leaders of the BJP in poll-bound Jharkhand. Though the fierce contest for seats is yet to begin in dozens of prominent constituencies, the long-term loyal BJP leaders are wary of the party’s strategy for seat allocation ahead of polls.
Right from Tamar MlA Raja Peter to Bokaro MlA Samresh Singh, as on date the state BJP is full of local stalwarts, who made entry in the party after the historic win in the lok Sabha elections and there are perhaps more candidates than needed to contest on the strongholds of the party, feel party leaders.
Some seats including Ranchi and Hatia of the national capital are set to see an intense competition among several leaders – almost all claiming to have strong base in the constituencies.
If one considers four-time MlA from Ranchi Assembly seat CP Singh would get a walkover one may be wrong. There are over half a dozen leaders eyeing the most favourable seat of the party. Sources revealed that a number of prominent faces associated with the party directly or indirectly were ready to claim their stake, though none were ready to come out in open.
Former Minister and ex-MlA from Hatia constituency Ramji lal Sarda said that the influx of new-faces in the party has definitely increased and there were strong contenders for the Hatia seat but that would not deter him from making a claim for the seat.
“Hatia is my natural claim. I was defeated by 25 votes in the 2009 Assembly polls and therefore I am not at all bothered about the new entrants. The party leadership has to take care of it. I have made the central leadership aware about my claim for the seat well in advance,” Sarda said acknowledging that there were strong contenders before him for the Hatia seat.
Recognising intensity of competition for seats in this Assembly polls, senior leader and former Speaker of Assembly CP Singh said that there was no ‘crowd control mechanism’ formed by the party yet. However he said that it was too early to say anything about the issue and the party seniors were capable enough to take “prudent decisions”. Party insiders, however, revealed that the candidates having a blend of expertise, youthfulness and strong base in their respective constituencies are likely to be favoured by the central leadership. “Just being a former minister of MlA with a backing of someone influential will not work out this time,” said a leader.