In the middle of the Jharkhand Assembly Elections BJP’s principal spokesperson Praveen Prabhakar resigned from party’s primary membership on Sunday and joined Nationalist People’s Party (NPP).

Prabhakar had been one of the founding members of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) but later joined BJP.

According to news agency IANS, Prabhakar was not satisfied with the ticket distribution in the state by BJP.

“I have learnt a lot from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief and Home Minister Amit Shah but in Jharkhand, the BJP needed to do some introspection,” news agency IANS quoted him as saying.

With Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma as its head, Prabhakar joined NPP on Sunday. And he is contesting this election on their ticket from the Nala Assembly Constituency. The elections on this seat are due in the fifth phase on December 20.

Prabhakar said, “The nation was progressing on all fronts, but in Jharkhand, the aspirations of the people were being constantly snuffed. I dedicated all I had for the creation of Jharkhand (as a separate state) and will continue to fight all my life for its development. I have full faith that I will get the assistance and guidance of NPP leaders in this endeavour”.

Meanwhile, BJP is campaigning hard in Jharkhand with PM Narendra Modi being the main campaigner. Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah and several other senior leaders are aggressively campaigning in the state.

In the last elections held in 2014, the BJP had won 37 seats while its partner AJSU won five seats. While the opposition parties Congress won six seats, JMM won 19 and JVM won eight. The remaining six seats were won by other parties.

The Congress and the JMM are fighting this election as allies along with RJD. In the 81-seat assembly of Jharkhand assembly, the Congress will contest on 31 seats in alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha which is contesting on 43 seats and Rashtriya Janata Dal contesting on 7 seats.

This time, BJP and AJSU are contesting separately in the polls.

The Jharkhand Assembly elections began on November 30 with the first phase of polling. The other phases of polling will be held on December 7, 12, 16 and 20. Counting of votes polled for the 81-member Assembly will be held on December 23.