KOLKATA: Former Jharkhand deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto has blamed the Raghubar Das government’s land policies for the defeat of his party, AJSU-P, in Silli and Gomia assembly seats in the recent bypolls AJSU-P is a constituent of the state’s ruling BJP-led alliance.Sudesh, who is president of AJSU-P, had earlier represented Silli in the assembly for three terms till 2014. In the recent byelection, he lost to JMM’s Seema Devi, whose husband Amit Kumar had won the seat in 2014. The byelection was necessitated after Amit lost his assembly membership following his conviction in a criminal case.Talking to TOI a day after he lost the election, Sudesh said, “Land policies of the Das government were not accepted by the rural masses.” He hinted that the government had become unpopular in the rural belts because of its wrong policies.Sudesh, who lost the seat to Seema by 13,510 votes, said, “AJSU-P is surely going to review its alliance with BJP and decide whether it would align with it in next year’s general election .”Sudesh pointed out that Gomia slipped out of AJSU-P’s hands by a narrow margin because BJP had fielded its candidate there. He said, “If the NDA had fielded a common candidate, the results would have been different. Our party will take up the issue of its alliance with BJP at its next meeting.”Sudesh further said, “Even though BJP did not contest the Silli seat, it offered very little help to AJSU-P as an ally.” He alleged that a section of BJP functionary indulged in a negative campaign against him. He also blamed BJP’s “high-handedness and big brotherly attitude” for AJSU-P’s twin defeats.Commenting on the functioning of the government, Sudesh said major decisions are taken without considering the ground situation. “This has made the government more unpopular,” he added. He described as “as a positive development” the drop in JMM’s victory margins in the byelection.BJP state general secretary Deepak Prakash said, “The outcome of the bypolls will not have impact on the relationship between our party and our ally, AJSU-P.” He added, “However, both the parties should review their strategies and hammer out any mistakes we have made.”(With inputs from Jaideep Deogharia)

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