Ahead of Rajya Sabha polls, Mahagathbandhan & BJP try to win over Ajsu-P's Sudesh Mahto

RANCHI: Snubbed before the Vidhan Sabha election in Jharkhand last year, Sudesh Mahto and his party Ajsu-P have once again become the centre of attraction as both the ruling Mahagathbandhan and BJP are trying their best to coax the leader to vote for their respective Rajya Sabha picks.
Sensing a crack in Mahto’s relation with the saffron party, which surfaced during the state polls, chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday drove to Mahto’s residence in the morning and appealed him to vote in favour of Mahagatbandhan candidates Shibu Soren and Shehzada Anwar.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Hemant said, “It was a courtesy call. We talked about the Rajya Sabha election and the Covid-19 scenario.” In the same breath, however, Hemant, who is also JMM’s working president, tried to strike a chord with Ajsu-P over its origin dating back to the movement for a separate statehood. “Guruji fought for a separate state. Ajsu-P was also born out of the same movement and originated from JMM.”
Seeing red, the state unit of BJP swiftly made a move to cajole Mahto. A statement issued by the saffron party in the evening said BJP’s legislative party meeting, scheduled on Wednesday, has been turned into an NDA meet. “There will be a meeting of NDA legislative parties in the afternoon of June 17 (Wednesday). Along with BJP legislators, Ajsu Party president Sudesh Kumar Mahto, MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary and MLA Lambodar Mahto will be present,” the statement read.
Ajsu-P, which broke away from a formal alliance with BJP during the assembly polls, bagged two seats. Mahto, who was re-elected from Silli, signed as proposers along with the party’s Gomia MLA Lambodar in the candidature of Prakash in March.
While the Mahagatbandhan is confident of a clear victory for Shibu by the virtue of numbers, BJP is likely to make it for Prakash. However, the uncertainty over its Baghmara MLA Dhullu Mahto’s turnout and eligibility of Babulal Marandi is making Sudesh and Lambodar key cogs in Prakash’s Rajya Sabha prospects.
Speaking to journalists later, Sudesh refused to paint a clearer picture. “The CM was apprised about our party’s stand,” he said.
Notably, JMM sources said it will be interesting to see which way Sudesh swings on Wednesday. “If Sudesh skips the NDA meet, then he is with us,” a JMM central committee member said.
The JMM camp is also confident of getting support from Barkattha’s Independent MLA Amit Kumar Yadav, NCP’s Hussainabad legislator Kamlesh Kumar Singh and CPI –ML(L)’s Bagodar MLA Vinod Singh. Besides the three, JVM-P legislators Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey are also to support Shibu and Anwar’s candidature. However, former BJP veteran Saryu Rai, who is supporting the Hemant government from outside, is likely to lend his support to Prakash.