BJP lost Jharkhand for ignoring allies: JD(U)

PATNA: A day after BJP's debacle in Jharkhand, JD(U), one of the constituents of NDA, turned up the heat on the saffron party saying the defeat was due to its "non-accommodative" approach towards its regional allies.
JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh told TOI that while BJP did not accommodate smaller allies like AJSU Party, LJP and his own party, the JMM-led Mahagathbandhan, which emerged victorious, remained united.
"It is amply clear that had BJP presented a united fight against the JMM-led opposition in Jharkhand, it would not have lost there. We hope that BJP will review the results and avoid repeating such mistakes in the upcoming Bihar elections," Singh said. BJP had contested 79 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand. It did not field a candidate against Sudesh Mahto of AJSU party, which had fallen out with BJP over seat-sharing. The last date for filing of nomination in another seat, which was supposed to go to AJSU, had passed by the time the alliance between the two parties had snapped
JD(U) contested 46 seats, LJP 30 and AJSU Party 56. While AJSU won only two seats, both JD(U) and LJP drew a blank. But it was BJP which suffered the most with its tally coming down from 37 to 25.
JD(U) MLC Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi also attacked BJP, saying: "Effects of protests against NRC and CAA were reflected in the Jharkhand election results."BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand, however, claimed that the Jharkhand results will have no impact on the upcoming Bihar elections because the demography is completely different in the two states.