BJP shows it’s big brother, to fight for RS from Jharkhand

At a meeting called by state party president Ramesh Singhmunda, the Jharkhand Samata Party leaders threatened to withdraw their support to the Marandi government unless the BJP withdrew from the contest and facilitated the election of Mahato.

They argued that the party had a natural claim to the seat and that the coalition dharma warranted that BJP support Samata Party’s candidate.

On the other hand, BJP general secretary Pyarelal Khandelwal, in charge of Jharkhand, declared today that the party would not oblige the Samata Party. ‘‘There is no question of withdrawal of our nominee,’’ he said. He termed Samata’s claim to the plea as untenable and asked how could the BJP, with 34 members in the 81-member Assembly, back the candidate of a five-member group.

Stating that Sahay was not a Samata Party member, having been elected as an independent from the composite state of Bihar, which included Jharkhand, Khandelwal said that Sahay’s widow, Sushila Sahay — a former minister — had gone on record to this effect.

However, Samata Party spokesman Shambhu Sharan Srivastav said that there was no truth in Khandelwal’s claim that Sahay did not belong to the Samata. He maintained: ‘‘He was a member of our national executive, which can be verified from the Election Commission record as well as television footage of our meetings.’’ He said it would have been better if the BJP had honestly demanded the seat instead of making a false claim that ‘‘Sahay did not belong to us’’. Contrary to the threatening posture adopted by Samata leaders at Ranchi, Srivastav chose to speak in a conciliatory tone. ‘‘We still hope BJP would pull out of the contest,’’ he said. When asked about the party stand in case it did not, the Samata Party spokesman said that he ‘‘would not like to speculate on it.’’

With battle-lines drawn and both sides determined to hold their positions, the by-election could see some interesting developments in case the Opposition chooses to join hands with the Samata Party.