Flaying the opposition, Jharkhand’s BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo on Monday said that discord in the INDIA bloc is bound to happen, as the alliance was formed to capture power and loot public’s money.

Addressing a press conference in Ranchi, Jharkhand, Shah Deo said, ”If an alliance is formed without any policy or principle, just to capture power, to loot the public’s money, then such situations (discord in INDIA alliance) happen again and again. Here (in INDIA alliance), there is no discussion on what they will do for the public, what will be the common minimum programme, and how to bring good schemes, for the benefit of the person standing at the last rung of the society. ”

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He said in the INDI alliance, the discussion is on who will capture how many seats and their deadlock is still going on regarding that. ”You can see the difference between NDA and INDIA. We not only stitched the alliance but also announced candidates for 77 seats till now. ”

The BJP leader said that candidates will be announced for four seats also today or tomorrow, adding that ”…they (INDIA bloc) have not yet prepared the blueprint of the alliance.”

He told reporters that nepotism is when 14-15 members of the same family occupy various positions in the party or become MPs, MLAs, Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers. The JMM, like most parties in India, is controlled by one leader or family, and there is little room for the separate ambitions of individual leaders. He pointed out ”There is no account book, whatever the family says is right.”

In a post on X, Shah Deo wrote, ”NDA was the first to announce the alliance and now BJP has also announced the candidates. On the contrary, there is a tussle going on in the ruling alliance for seats. RJD has raised the voice of rebellion. For them, self-interest is important, not public interest. Anyway, what else can you expect from the ruling coalition whose common minimum program includes mining scam, stone scam, coal scam, transfer posting scam, sand scam and land scam?”

In a press conference held at his official residence in Ranchi on Saturday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the seat-sharing arrangement among the India Alliance, which includes the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress. According to the agreement, the JMM and Congress will contest 70 out of the 81 assembly seats, while the remaining 11 seats will be allocated to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other alliance partners.

A day after both the parties announced the seat-sharing deal in the poll-bound state, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has called it “unilateral”. Cracks are emerging among the JMM and the Congress as well due to the latter’s demand to give RJD more seats from the JMM’s quota, reports say.

Assam Chief Minister and Jharkhand BJP co-in-charge of assembly elections Himanta Biswa Sarma said there has been a history in Jharkhand that after the list of candidates is announced, there is some dissatisfaction and some people even resign.

”But we are getting indications that people are excited and there is not much dissatisfaction. Our party is big and if anyone is dissatisfied, we will talk to them. In every party, there is dissatisfaction for 2-3 days after the list is announced… People will make the NDA win,” he expressed the hope.

”There is no ‘parivarvaad’ in our party. Arjun Munda is not contesting the election so his wife is contesting, Raghubar Das is not contesting, Purnima Lalit Das (his daughter-in-law) is contesting,” he shared.

The BJP will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections along with NDA allies – All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The BJP Saturday announced its first list of 66 candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections.

The Jharkhand assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and November 20, while the counting of votes will take place on November 23.