SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Feb 4: The upcoming mayoral election in Dhanbad has triggered a stampede-like situation within the BJP, with several leaders raising the banner of revolt while others have snapped their decades-old association with the party.
In the party-less mayoral polls, despite the BJP high command extending tacit support to relatively unknown face Sanjiv Agrawal, senior party leader Sanjeev Singh, a two-time Jharia MLA (2014, 2019), also filed his nomination for the mayor’s post on Tuesday.
BJP Stronghold Sees Unusual Rebellion
Dhanbad is considered a BJP stronghold, with the party holding the MP seat and three of the six MLAs in the district. Jharia MLA Ragni Singh, wife of Sanjeev Singh, represents the BJP. However, such internal unrest has rarely been witnessed within the party here.
Sanjeev Singh also has the distinction of making his aunt Indu Devi the first Mayor of Dhanbad in the 2010 election, for which he had actively campaigned.
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Ex-Mayor Quits BJP, Joins JMM
Former mayor Chandrashekhar Agrawal has resigned from the BJP and joined the JMM to contest the mayoral election. Both Chandrashekhar Agrawal and Sanjeev Singh had sought permission from BJP state president Aditya Sahu to contest the election, but were denied approval.
Agrawal filed his nomination on January 29. After receiving no positive response from the BJP leadership, he formally joined the JMM in the presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren during the party’s foundation day celebrations in Dumka on February 2.
Close to Raghubar Das, Later Sidelined
Chandrashekhar Agrawal was considered a close associate of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das and served as his personal poll manager during the 2019 Assembly election from Jamshedpur East, where Das lost to Independent candidate Saryu Rai.
A senior BJP leader said that following Raghubar Das’s defeat, Agrawal was gradually sidelined within the party. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he sought a BJP ticket from Dhanbad but lost out to Dhullu Mahto.
Agrawal later attempted to secure a Congress ticket, but local opposition led to Anupama Singh, wife of Berma MLA Jayamangal Singh, being chosen instead. He also aspired to contest from Dhanbad Sadar in the 2025 Assembly elections, but two-time MLA Raj Sinha emerged as the party’s preferred candidate.
“With all political options closed, Agrawal decided to join the JMM,” a party leader said.
JMM and Congress Candidates in Fray
Meanwhile, Neelam Mishra of the JMM has already filed her nomination. A party leader indicated that Chandrashekhar Agrawal is not assured of JMM’s official support despite joining the party.
On the Congress front, senior leader Shamsher Alam has also filed his nomination for the mayoral post. Although the party has not officially announced its candidate, he is the only Congress leader to have filed nomination so far.
