After days of speculations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday decided to field former Social Welfare Minister Annapurna Devi from Koderma and Chairperson of Jharkhand State Khadi Board Sanjay Seth from Ranchi. The party also backed its incumbent Chatra parliamentarian Sunil Singh in his constituency for the second time.
The trio featured in the list of 24 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls released by the BJP in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon. The announcement, though not surprising, may stir political debates as the party decided to give preference to a political greenhorn and a turncoat over its two incumbent parliamentarians – Kodarma MP Ravindar Rai and Ranchi MP Ram Tahal Choudhary.
Annapurna, who recently joined the BJP cadre after serving as one of the stalwarts of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Jharkhand for years, won the Koderma Legislative Assembly in 2009 and served as State Woman and Child Welfare Minister in former CM Hemant Soren’s Cabinet.
Once considered the right hand of RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Jharkhand, Devi enjoys a strong support of Yadav community in Koderma region. She won the 2009 Assembly Elections from Koderma with an RJD ticket and was defeated in 2014 by BJP’s Neera Yadav. While political gurus may see her switch to BJP as a decision motivated by the desire of a parliamentary ticket, she stuck to her stand on Saturday, claiming that she was influenced by the BJP’s ideologies and wanted to serve the party.
“I did not join the party on an assurance of getting a ticket. All I wanted to do was to work as a dedicated party worker. I appreciate the trust they have bestowed upon me and wish to do my best for the party,” Devi said.
However, she has a tough battle ahead as former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) supremo Babulal Marandi will contest against her under the grand alliance umbrella in Koderma. Marandi, one of the veterans of Jharkhand’s politics, is a force to reckon with. Devi, however, sounded unfazed by the challenges ahead.
“The people of Koderma have always supported me and I have complete faith in them,” she said.
BJP’s Ranchi candidate Sanjay Seth, who will contest his first election this year, thanked Party’s National President Amit Shah for bestowing his trust upon him. Before taking charge as the Khadi Board chief, Seth was an active member of NaMo Mantra Jharkhand, a fan club of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, started by a few BJP leaders.
Winning this election, however, may turn out to be a daunting task for Seth since he will be pitted against Congress party’s former Union Minister and four times MP Subodh Kant Sahay in Ranchi.
“The contest in Ranchi will be between nationalism and the ideology of separatism. The people of Ranchi will ensure that BJP gets at least 400 Lok Sabha seats this time,” Seth said.
With the announcement of Seth’s name for the Ranchi seat, a voice of dissent from incumbent BJP parliamentarian Ram Tahal Choudhary echoed on Saturday. Soon after the news broke, he said that he will contest the elections as an independent candidate and file his nomination on April 17 from Ranchi.
“The BJP thinks I should retire, but the voters do not think so. I don’t care who the party fielded, I will contest elections for sure,” he said.
