Following the announcement of the dates for the Assembly polls, political parties in Jharkhand are gearing up for the election.

The stakes are high for the Bharatiya Janata Party  which won 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats earlier this year.

Among all the issues, the top three which are likely to become poll issues in the electoral battle are – Illegal mining, Naxalism and Corruption.

Political pundits say, by and large, elections are fought on these issues only.

Several political leaders believe local issues would be the yardstick for voters’ choice while BJP sources say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development card  is likely to give a majority government to the state.

JMM general secretary Suprio Bhattacharya believes that local issues are more important and not national issues during Assembly elections.

“Issues like good governance, employment, law and order, welfare measures, empowerment and other things matter in Assembly polls,” says Mr. Bhattacharya.