A disgruntled sitting MP is not the only challenge the BJP faces as it seeks to retain the capital seat by fielding a new candidate, state khadi board chief Sanjay Seth, who is virtually unknown in the rural parts of the constituency that comprises six Assembly segments of which only two are urban.

Senior leaders came to this conclusion on Tuesday after holding a three-hour brain-storming session at the BJP headquarters here on the prospects of their candidate in the face of the challenge thrown in by five-time sitting party MP Ram Tahal Choudhary (77) who has declared he will contest as an Independent to avenge the humiliation of been denied a party ticket.

“Seth has some advantages and disadvantages He is a new and clean face, so there is no anti-incumbency against him. He is a known face in the urban segments and he will easily beat his rivals there as he has the full backing of the trading class. But he is not well known in rural areas where party votes won’t be enough,” explained a senior BJP leader who was present at Tuesday’s meeting.

Ranchi parliamentary constituency comprises of six Assembly segments, namely, Ranchi, Ichagarh, Silli, Khijri, Hatia and Kanke. Of these, only Ranchi and Hatia are urban areas.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP won five segments except Silli which went to the JMM’s Seema Devi.

The BJP has concluded that Seth would have to make his presence felt in the rural areas which would not be easy.

“Choudhary will prove to be problematic for Seth because each vote he gets will be a loss for the BJP. But we are working on a plan,” said the BJP leader.

“We have decided to focus on rural areas on priority. Seth is aware of the situation so he has started spending most of his time campaigning in rural areas. We have decided on a special set-up to monitor the campaign in rural areas. It will be activated in the next five days,” he added.

Tuesday’s closed-door marathon meeting was attended by all five party MLAs of Ranchi parliamentary constituency, besides MP and election in-charge Samir Oraon, state general secretary Deepak Prakash, Ranchi mayor Asha Lakra, Seth and others.

Around 100 senior party workers also attended the meeting.

Each of the five MLAs was asked to ensure that Seth got a minimum of 10,000 votes more than what Ram Tahal got in the constituency in the 2014 general election.

Asked about the rural challenge, Seth opined he did not foresee a problem. “As chairperson of Jharkhand State Khadi and Village Industries Board, I started various employment programmes in villages and hence I am familiar in rural areas,” he said, pointing to a series of khadi-centred projects he had launched in Ichagarh.

“Yesterday (Monday), I visited parts Silli and got a very good response,” he said, adding that he was scheduled to visit Khelari on Wednesday.

“People know the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will tell them what the NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi did for them,” Seth said.