Ranchi, April 7 (IANS) The Congress is facing a "difficult position in a few seats" in Jharkhand, but BJP doesn't seem to be much better off as a leader concedes that just "two to three seats are safe for the BJP".
"We hope to get 11 to 12 seats. Even opinion polls have predicted 10 seats for our party," former state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Raghubar Das told IANS.
On multi-corner fight in all the seats, he said: "People have made up their minds. Some regional parties are fighting just to make their presence felt, but this is the Lok Sabha poll not assembly polls."
BJP leaders, however, privately admitted that the polls may spring surprises, and victory margins may be less in many seats.
"Two to three seats are safe for the BJP, but no party is in a position to claim victory in any particular seat," a party leader said.
Jharkhand will see three-phase polling - April 10 (five seats), April 17 (five) and April 24 (four seats).
"The UPA will repeat its 2004 results and win 13 seats in the state," Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who is addressing rallies every day, said at a meeting in Dhanbad Saturday.
The Congress is confident of winning four-five seats.
Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Shailesh Sinha told IANS: "Our tally will improve and we will be able to win four to five seats. It's true the multi-corner fight has given a choice to the people and put us in a difficult position in a few seats but we will also get benefits in other seats."
The Lok Sabha election is being seen as a semi-final for the assembly polls scheduled for November-December.
In 2009, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won seven of the 14 seats and the party is banking on prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's charisma to retain the seats. The party had won four seats in 2009 by less than 5,000 votes.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is also trying to improve its tally.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal are fighting on four, nine and one seat respectively. In 2009, the JMM had won two seats and Congress one.
Two regional parties - Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) - are fighting in 14 and seven seats respectively.
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is also contesting from 11 seats.
Three legislators - Bandhu Tirkey, Chamra Linda and Chandra Shekhar Dubey - supporting Hemant Soren's government joined the Trinamool and are fighting the polls from Ranchi, Lohardagga and Dhanbad.
Coronavirus: Why is Biden's stand no different from Trump in the case of China?
US President Joe Biden has ordered intelligence agencies to gather information in 90 days on how
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded the Union Budget presented in Parliament on Februar
BSF recovers 10 kg heroin in Punjab
Chandigarh, March 3 (IANS) Border Security Force (BSF) troopers recovered 10 kg of heroin along
Corona In Gurugram - 2401 corona infected in one day on Sunday, 2 died
Gurugram The Corona infection in April has destroyed all records so far. In the same sequence, on
India neither harms others nor spares troublemakers. India has never been in favor of war and vio
The ninth edition of the Raisina Dialogue Conference started on 21st February. Politicians from a
These days large population of the world is 'imprisoned' in their homes for the prevention of cor
At the age of 37, Ajinkya Naik was made the President of the Mumbai Cricket Association. In the e
Jharkhand High Court said- 15-year-old Muslim girl is free to marry of her choice
Jharkhand High Court Justice SK Dwivedi's bench has said that under the Muslim Personal Law, a Mu
US Visa: President Joe Biden said – the wait time for Indians for US visas should be reduced
A commission from President Joe Biden has recommended that he consider issuing a memo to the Stat
