Jharkhand polls: No BJP alliance; Chirag Paswan’s LJP contesting alone

In what many interpret as a sign of growing unease among NDA allies, Chirag Paswan — the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and Hajipur Lok Sabha MP — has indicated that his party will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections independently rather than in alliance with the BJP.

This decision comes as Paswan was re-elected as the LJP president for the next five years during the party’s national executive meeting in Ranchi.

Paswan announced that the LJP (RV) plans to field candidates in 28 out of the 81 seats in the Jharkhand assembly elections. While emphasising the party's intent to contest alone, he also left the door open to an alliance, stating that discussions with the BJP, their national ally, are ongoing.

“We are a strong ally of the NDA at the national level, but we have, on occasion, contested state elections independently. In the 2014 Jharkhand assembly polls, we contested in alliance with the NDA, securing the Shikaripara seat. However, this time, the decision rests with our state unit whether to contest under the NDA banner or go solo,” Paswan remarked.

He added that the state unit will present a proposal to the NDA for contesting the assembly polls together. However, if a consensus on seat-sharing isn't reached, the LJP (RV) may decide to proceed independently.

This statement follows Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s declaration that the JD(U) is preparing to contest 11 seats in the Jharkhand assembly polls independently as well.

Paswan's assertion that LJP will contest 28 seats highlights the ongoing tussle between the JD(U) and LJP for the EBC (extremely backward classes) vote in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Both parties, despite being NDA allies, have been vying for the same voter base due to their similar social backgrounds.

Ever since Jharkhand's formation, Bihar-based parties such as the RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) have struggled to gain traction in the tribes-dominated state, leaving the power struggle for top spot primarily to the BJP and the JMM (Jharkhand Multi Morcha).

Observers in Jharkhand believe that the BJP is more focused on wooing former chief minister and JMM leader Champai Soren to split the JMM vote bank, rather than forming an alliance with Paswan.

According to sources, the BJP leadership perceives the LJP as having minimal influence in Jharkhand, and this has led to their lukewarm response to the prospect of an alliance with the LJP in Jharkhand.

Notably, in the 2019 Jharkhand assembly election, the LJP had contested 50 seats but failed to win a single seat.