Deepak Prakash
– Photo : Twitter/@dprakashbjp
Expansion
BJP state president Deepak Prakash indicated on Friday that the BJP may contest the Ramgarh by-polls in alliance with the AJSU party. The bypoll to the seat, which fell vacant after the disqualification of Congress MLA Mamta Devi, will be held on February 27.
He said, BJP and AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union) have a natural relationship since the formation of the state. We have fought many elections in alliance. We will take an appropriate decision in consultation with the central leadership. He expressed confidence that the BJP would win the bypolls.
Congress state president Rajesh Thakur, who reached Ramgarh on Friday to chalk out the bypoll strategy, said, “The ruling coalition has won all the four bypolls held in the state after we came to power and we are confident of winning the Ramgarh seat easily.” . He said the ruling alliance would field its candidate from the Congress. “We will announce the name of our candidate this month,” he said.
Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar asked the officers of all departments to work in coordination to make the Ramgarh bypoll free and fair. Kumar was addressing the meeting of the State Level Coordination Committee. He said that all concerned departments should ensure that candidates do not spend more than the sanctioned amount on campaigning.
Meanwhile, prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in Ramgarh sub-division in view of the bypolls. Ramgarh Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Mohammad Javed Hussain said prohibitory orders have been issued to maintain law and order and ensure free and fair bypolls.
The by-election for the Ramgarh assembly seat will be held on February 27. The counting of votes will take place on March 2. In December last year, a special MP/MLA court in Hazaribagh sentenced Mamta Devi and 12 other agitators to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case related to the firing and police retaliation at a private industrial firm in 2016.