Ranchi: BJP’s senior leadership is concerned about Ranchi MP Ram Tahal Choudhary’s threat to contest as an independent candidate if he is refused a party ticket. Senior party leaders in the state believe that his rebellion could affect their prospects in the prestigious Ranchi constituency. Choudhary, 77, is a five-time Lok Sabha MP from this seat.Last week, BJP named its candidates for 10 of 13 Lok Sabha seats, holding back the names of their nominees for Ranchi, Chatra and Koderma, and sending feelers to its sitting MPs about their possible replacement. Irked by the delay, Choudhary threatened to contest as an independent if he is benched and his supporters staged a protest outside the BJP office on Sunday.The Ranchi Lok Sabha seat is seen as a prestigious seat, more so by virtue of being in the state capital. After losing out to Congress on two consecutive terms since 2004, BJP regained this seat in 2014 when riding high on the Modi wave coupled with Choudhary’s Kurmi voter base. Choudhary trounced Congress’s Subodh Kant Sahay by 1.99 lakh votes.Historically, the fight for the Ranchi seat has been between Choudhary and Sahay. Choudhary first won from here in 1991 and retained the seat until 2004 before losing to Sahay for two terms. While Congress is yet to name its candidate, it will in all likelihood field Sahay, who has already started low-key campaigning.With Ranchi going to the polls on May 6, another battle between the two parties is imminent, but Choudhary’s rebellion will pose a challenge to BJP, insiders said. A senior BJP leader said: “Even if Choudhary fights as an independent, he will not win. Our concern is that he will dent the BJP vote base and give an easy win to Congress. We are making plans on how to control the affect on our vote bank.”“No doubt that Choudhary has been winning mostly due to his support base among Kurmi voters but this segment alone can’t help him win. Kurmis, along with BJP voters across business and other caste segments, often worked in his favour. But even if he gets 50,000 votes fighting solo, it is a dent good enough for BJP to lose,” added another BJP leader. “One thing is for sure, even if Choudhary is replaced because of his age, the party will field a Kurmi face only as a damage control measure,” he added.Refusing to comment on Choudhary’s candidature, BJP general secretary Deepak Prakash said the selection of candidates is usually done by the party high command after weighing various factors. However, he accepted that anyone fighting independently after being the party’s face from a particular seat could spell trouble. “Our poll managers are looking into all the aspects to ensure BJP wins all 14 seats in Jharkhand,” he said.Talking to TOI a couple of days ago, Choudhary predicted that BJP will lose if the party refuses to give him a ticket. “Only I can ensure victory for BJP in Ranchi. As far as age is concerned, I am fit enough to contest the polls. If the party doesn't give me ticket, I will fight independently,” he said.BJP also denied a ticket to former Lok Sabha Speaker Karia Munda from Khunti and Ravindra Pandey from Giridih. Karia Munda has been replaced by former CM Arjun Munda and the Giridih parliamentary seat has been given to NDA ally Ajsu Party.

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