The Sudesh Mahto-led AJSU Party will extend support to the BJP nominees in the November 3 byelections in Dumka and Bermo, party leaders said on Saturday.

Breaking their decades-old ties, both the AJSU and BJP had fought the 2019 Assembly elections separately, hurting each other’s prospects and making it easier for the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance to form a government. Now, ahead of the polls, the NDA constituents have decided to bury the hatchet and put up a joint fight.

Announcing their stand on Saturday, AJSU spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat told the media that the decision to support the BJP was taken by the party’s central leadership. “Our party chief Sudesh Mahto has decided to support BJP candidates for Dumka and Bermo bypolls. We will extend full cooperation to ensure the NDA’s victory on both the seats,” said Bhagat.

State BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash met with Mahto at his residence on Friday to seal the negotiations in favour of the saffron camp. “AJSU has decided to support the BJP in the interest of the state and its development. We are natural allies and will oust the ruling coalition on both seats this time.”

Prakash said the ruling coalition government had failed to fulfil any of its commitments since it took charge in January this year. “Under the current regime, law and order has been hit severely, pushing the state back to jungle-raj. Rapes, murders, loots and other heinous crimes are at an all-time now. People are fed up with this government. Our wins will mark the downfall of this unpopular government,” he claimed.

The saffron camp is likely to announce candidates next week ahead of the nomination process beginning October 9. JMM has already announced 43-year-old Basant Soren, chief minister Hemant Soren’s younger brother, as its candidate in Dumka. Ally Congress will put up a candidate in Bermo.

For the ruling grand alliance of JMM, Congress and RJD, the bypolls will be a litmus test of its popularity since it took charge. The Dumka Assembly seat fell vacant after Hemant vacated it to retain Barhait. A bypoll was necessitated in Bermo after the demise of sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh in May.

Currently, the ruling coalition has 46 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly with an effective strength of 78 after the demise of JMM’s Madhupur MLA and state minority welfare minister on Saturday. In the 2019 Assembly polls, JMM originally won 29 seats, Congress 17 and RJD 1. This apart, two former JVM-P MLAs—Bandhu Tirkey (Mandar) and Pradeep Yadav (Poriyahat) joined the Congress after the Assembly polls of December 2019, taking the total count of MLAs of the ruling dispensation to 49.

The BJP on the other hand has 26 MLAs after Babulal Marandi merged his party with the saffron camp, while AJSU has two seats, taking the NDA’s count to 28.