Assam Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) co-in-charge for Jharkhand Assembly elections Himanta Biswa Sarma spoke about BJP leader Satyanand Jha filing his nomination as an independent candidate for the upcoming assembly polls.

While speaking to the media reporters in Jamtara, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the party could not give ticket to Satyanand Jha which is why he announced to contest the election as an independent candidate.

“We could give ticket to only one person from the party, we could not give ticket to him, so Jha ji got angry and announced to contest the election as an independent candidate. He also filed his nomination,” he said.

Himanta Biswa Sarma further mentioned that he came to talk to Satyanand Jha to request him to withdraw his nomination. The BJP has mentioned that Satyanand Jha could be accomodate at the state or central government at a later stage.

“This time it is very important for the BJP to form the government; it is important for Jharkhand. I came here to request Jha ji to help the party by withdrawing his nomination. We have also said that he will be given a good and respected post in the state or central government. He is a very old worker. He will take a decision after talking to his workers,” he added.

On October 28, BJP released their second of candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly elections.

The electoral battle is between two main alliances in the state, with the ruling Congress-JMM alliance, along with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) already distributing most of the tickets to their candidates.

Similarly, The BJP along with All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) have also decided on most of their candidates. While BJP will contest 68 seats, AJSU will contest 10 seats, and JD(U) and LJP will contest two and one seat respectively.

The 81 seat Jharkhand assembly will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20. Votes will be on November 23.

A total of 2.60 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in Jharkhand and there are 1.31 crore male and 1.29 crore female voters. The state has 11.84 lakh first-time voters.