Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) rebel Rajendra Sahu on Tuesday filed his nomination paper as an independent candidate from Chatra parliamentary seat, making the fight between the national democratic alliance (NDA) and the opposition grand alliance (GA) an interesting one.

Sahu, who was one of the contenders for the BJP ticket, had on Sunday announced to contest from Chatra alleging that the national parties including BJP did not pay any heed to the locals’ demand of fielding a person from this soil.

Sahu, a native of Balumath in Latehar district, seems to be banking heavily on the locals’ sentiment of electing one among them as their voice in the parliament. The Chatra parliamentary constituency in Jharkhand is yet to have its own person at the helm as an MP from this seat.

Incidentally, all major political parties including the BJP, the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and the Congress have fielded rank outsiders from this seat as their candidates.

Soon after filing nomination, Sahu, also the deputy chairperson of Latehar district board, said, “I am in the fray after the party leadership ignored the people’s demand for a local candidate and I am confident of realising their dreams of having a local voice in the Parliament.”

“The people of this constituency do not want ‘parachute candidates’. Their sentiment is to have one of their men as an MP. The people in Chatra and Latehar have assured me of their total support on this issue,” he pointed out.

“I am a BJP worker and will continue to be so. Contesting as an independent is not like diluting my ideology as I had no other option to meet people’s aspirations. We will seek votes as BJP workers and after winning extend unconditional support to Modiji. We want Modiji as the PM again,” he pointed out.

The BJP workers and Sahu’s supporters also demonstrated in front of the Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das who was at Chatra to accompany the party candidate file nomination papers, demanding a local candidate.

First Published: Apr 10, 2019 14:10 IST