Jharkhand: AJSU Party re-nominates sitting MP for Giridih seat

Ranchi, Mar 29 (PTI) AJSU Party, an ally of the BJP-led NDA in Jharkhand, on Friday re-nominated its sitting MP Chandra Prakash Chaudhary from Giridih Lok Sabha constituency, a party official said. His name was decided during the party’s parliamentary board meeting chaired by AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto in Ranchi.

Mahto said the party would contest from Giridih constituency as per the seat-sharing agreement with the BJP. “The party has decided to field Chandra Prakash Chaudhary again from the seat to ensure a bigger victory for the NDA in Jharkhand. In the previous Lok Sabha polls, Chaudhary had won the seat by a huge margin. We will win the seat by a much bigger margin this time,” Mahto said. Chaudhary said he would continue working for the people of Giridih and Jharkhand.

“In 2019, Giridih was in the 61st position among aspirational districts in the country and now it is in the third position, which is a great achievement. I will continue the development work in Giridih,” he said. Chaudhary had won the Giridih seat by defeating former state education minister, the late Jagarnath Mahto, by a margin of over 2.48 lakh votes. Mahto died due to ailments at a Chennai hospital last year.

As per the seat-sharing agreement between the BJP and the AJSU Party, the saffron party will contest 13 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while its ally will field its candidate from Giridih constituency, BJP national general secretary Arun Kumar announced on Thursday. Lok Sabha elections this year are scheduled in seven phases across the country from April 19 to June 1. Polling in Jharkhand will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Giridih will go to the polls on May 25. Around 18.40 lakh electors, including 8.91 lakh women voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the constituency. The BJP has named its candidates for 13 seats, which included seven new faces. From the opposition bloc INDIA, only the Congress has announced its candidates for three seats — Khunti, Lohardaga and Hazaribag — in Jharkhand. Leaders of the INDIA bloc said that a seat-sharing agreement has been finalised for all the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. According to the initial understanding, the Congress would contest from seven seats and the JMM from five. The RJD and CPI(ML) would field candidates in one seat each, they said.

Taking a dig at the INDIA bloc, AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto alleged that the bloc is not committed to the development of the country but has a single agenda to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP-AJSU alliance had won 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand in the 2019 elections, while the Congress and the JMM had bagged one seat each.