By-poll to Mandar assembly seat in Jharkhand's Ranchi district is likely to witness a triangular contest with BJP rebel Dev Kumar Dhan filing his nomination as an independent candidate.

Though the BJP expelled him from the party for six years on Sunday, Dhan with the reported backing of Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), is being seen as a challenge for both the saffron party and the JMM-led ruling alliance.

Besides the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM), Congress and the RJD are part of the ruling dispensation in the state.

By-election in Mandar, which is one of the state's 28 tribal constituencies, is scheduled to be held on June 23. Votes will be counted on June 26.

The election was necessitated after the disqualification of Bandhu Tirkey as an MLA in the wake of his conviction in a corruption case.

The Congress has fielded his daughter, Shilpa Neha Tirkey, as the joint candidate of the JMM-led alliance, while the BJP has nominated former legislator Gangotri Kujur from the seat.

As many as 14 candidates are in the fray.

The by-election, which was earlier seen as a direct fight between two national parties, is likely to be a tough fight between the BJP, Congress, and Independent candidate Dhan.

In 2019, BJP had fielded Dhan for the Mandar assembly seat after denying a ticket to its sitting legislator Gangotri Kujur.

But Dhan lost to JVM-P's Bandhu Tirkey, who later joined the Congress.

They (BJP) can deny me a ticket but they can't deprive me of the votes of the people of the region. I am confident of defeating the candidates of both the national parties in this by-election, Dhan told PTI.

Claiming that he enjoys the backing of the AIMIM, Dhan said, In my support, the AIMIM candidate Shishir Lakra withdrew his name from the election. On June 19, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is coming to Mandar to seek votes in my favour, he said.

Dhan said, out of 3.54 lakh voters in the constituency, there are roughly 1.75 lakh Sarna (tribal) voters, 74,000 Hindu, 70,000 Muslim, and 30,000 Christian voters.

I am hoping a large number of tribals, Muslims, and a section of Hindus will vote for me, he said.

The BJP, however, denied Dhan as a threat to the party.

People will vote for the BJP irrespective of their caste, creed and religion, as the state government has failed on all fronts. We will win the seat with a thumping majority, party spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo told PTI.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Rajiv Rajan told PTI, Dhan is contesting as part of a hidden agenda of BJP but it will not work .

If Congress wins the by-election, it will be a victory for the ruling alliance in all the by-polls after the Hemant Soren government came to power in 2019 November.

If the BJP wins the election, it will reinforce the stand of the saffron party that the Soren government has "failed on all fronts', observers said.