Rajya Sabha poll: BJP says Munda government safe

Ranchi, May 2 (IANS) Asserting that the Arjun Munda-led Jharkhand government was safe, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Ananth Kumar Wednesday said the party was sure of winning in Thursday's Rajya Sabha poll.

Kumar arrived here to draw the party strategy for the two vacant seats in the biennial Rajya Sabha election. "We will win both the seats. We have numbers and talks are on with the alliance partners," he said.

Asked about any threat to the Munda-led state government, he said: "The government is safe in the state."

Three candidates - S.S. Ahuwalia of the BJP, Sanjiv Kumar of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Pradep Balmuchu of the Congress - are in the poll fray for the two Rajya Sabha seats.

The JMM had sought support of the BJP requesting that it withdraw its candidate. However, BJP's stand to contest the poll has irked the JMM and it issued veiled threats of destabilising the state government if its candidate lost the poll.

The second main opposition party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik(JVM-P), which has 11 legislators in the house, has announced it will stay away from the poll. The Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav, which has five legislators, has announced its support for the Congress.

In the 81-member house, both the BJP and the JMM have 18 legislators each. The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Congress have five, two and 13 legislators, respectively.

The Congress has claimed the support of 23 legislators, including five independent legislators.

In the ruling alliance, the BJP and JD-U together have 20 legislators. The AJSU, which could play a key role in the poll, is yet to reveal its cards.