Ajsu-P Bengal poll campaign to begin from Purulia today

RANCHI: Despite the poor show in the 2019 state assembly polls, Ajsu Party, the lone NDA constituent in Jharkhand, has now set its sight in the West Bengal assembly election for the first time. The Sudesh Mahto-led party said it will formally kick off its pre-poll campaign trail from Purulia on Tuesday.
Talking to TOI on Monday, Ajsu-P’s central spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat said the party is planning an expansion and elections offer a window for an entry.He, however, said before Jharkhand’s formation, Ajsu-P had been active in all districts of Bengal bordering Jharkhand.
He said, “Even though a handful of candidates took our party symbol to contest election there in the last election, this is for the first time that Ajsu-P has formally decided to enter Bengal now. Considering the emerging political situation in Bengal and how its indigenous population and Other Backward Castes (OBCs) continue to suffer, we hope to fill in the gap for an alternative force in Bengal.”
Tuesday’s mahaadhiveshan (grand conclave), a first in the series of scheduled activities in the coming weeks, will be kicked off from Purulia district, which shares borders with Jharkhand.
Bhagat said when Ajsu-P was formed in 1986, the party’s first conclave was held in Jhargram and the party had many active cadres who jointly fought in the separate statehood movement and for the aspirations of its people.
“However, after the formation of Jharkhand, many of our men, who are natives of bordering areas in Bengal were disconnected. Today, they feel alienated and cheated by the successive regimes. Hence, Ajsu-P has decided to fight for the 'asmita' of Mahtos and other indigenous people residing there so that they get a voice, political autonomy, social and economic justice,” Bhagat said.
He added that the party will hold a series of pre-poll campaigns and meetings in different locations to identify the aspirations of people and pertinent issues plaguing them to devise further modalities.
On joining a pre-poll alliance, Bhagat said, “Let us first evaluate our strengths, zero-in on the issues to be able to finalise on other poll mechanics like the number of seats that we aspire to contest, whether to fight alone or in an alliance. More than winning or losing, Ajsu-P’s objective is to make its presence felt on a grand scale.”
Notably, Ajsu-P had severed ties with its long-standing ally, BJP, over the seat-sharing issue in the 2019 Jharkhand assembly polls and fought alone on over 70 seats. It, however, managed to win only two, less than its earlier tally of five. It also dented BJP’s prospects in the last election paving way for the JMM-Congress-RJD mahagathbandhan to form the government. In the run-up to the Rajya Sabha polls on two seats in Jharkhand last year, Ajsu-P re-aligned with BJP.