A three-member BJP panel, comprising party president Deepak Prakash, leader of legislative party Babulal Marandi and organizational general secretary Dharampal, has been authorised to recommend candidates for the Madhupur bypoll slated to take place on April 17.

On Saturday, the state BJP election committee met under the leadership of Prakash in Ranchi to discuss candidates for the Madhupur byelection necessitated after the death of Haji Hussain Ansari.

A dozen applicants are vying for the party ticket, said party insiders, but added that Raj Paliwar and Ganga Narayan were strong contenders. Raj Paliwar won on a BJP ticket in Madhupur in 2005 and 2014, but lost to JMM’s Haji Hussain Ansari in 2019. Ganga Narayan, on the other hand, was in third position in the 2019 Assembly election after contesting as AJSU-P candidate.

“The party is considering between Raj Paliwar and Ganga Narayana Singh for Madhupur. If the latter’s name is chosen, he will be made to join BJP,” said a party spokesperson.

On why BJP is considering Ganga when he is not a member of the saffron camp, another leader said, “In 2019, he amassed about 40,000 votes to remain third on AJSU-P ticket. AJSU-P doesn't have a base in Madhupur and whatever votes Ganga got was solely on his own merit. So, the party is of the view that if he is fielded, then BJP will have around 40,000 votes, and given the party's election machinery, he may even end up getting more votes. Paliwar on the other hand doesn’t enjoy enough mass support.”

Talking to reporters, BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said they are expecting the party high command to announce the candidate soon. “The nomination process will begin from March 23. So, the party high command will make a formal announcement anytime soon,” he said.

On the other hand, the JMM-Congress-RJD ruling coalition will field Hafizul Hassan, the late Haji Hussain’s son in Madhupur.