Jharkhand polls: JMM releases 2nd list, MP Mahua Maji to contest from Ranchi
Ranchi: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Wednesday announced the names of its 42 candidates for the Assembly elections, which include Chief Minister Hemant Soren contesting from the Barhait seat.
The names were released through three lists released over the day — the first list containing the names of its 36 candidates, the second list having the name of lone candidate and the third with five candidates.
The JMM’s I.N.D.I.A. bloc partner RJD also announced its six nominees.
Hemant Soren is the sitting MLA from Barhait (ST) constituency in Sahibganj district. He won the seat by 25,740 votes over his nearest BJP rival Simon Malto in the 2019 Assembly elections. His wife Kalpana Soren was elected from Gandey Assembly seat in a bypoll by 27,149 votes over her nearest BJP rival Dilip Kumar Verma. The seat had fallen vacant following the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad.
Basant Soren, the Chief Minister’s brother, will contest from Dumka, Assembly Speaker Rabindranath Mahto from Nala, minister Mithilesh Thakur from Garhwa, Sonu Sudivya from Giridih and Bebi Devi from Dumri.
Basant Soren previously defeated former BJP minister Lois Marandi by over 6,842 votes in Dumka, a JMM stronghold and was vacated by his elder brother, Hemant Soren, who won both Dumka and Barahit in the December 2019 Assembly polls and chose to retain the latter. Earlier this week, Marandi switched over to JMM as she was reportedly ignored by the BJP for the coming election.
In its second list, the JMM also fielded its Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji from Ranchi, where the BJP has re-nominated its sitting MLA C.P. Singh. Maji, who was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in June 2022, previously served as the chairperson of the Jharkhand state commission for women and was the former president of the JMM’s women’s wing.
The JMM’s third list included incumbent legislators Chamra Linda and Sukhram Oraon from Bishunpur and Chakradharpur seats. Besides Linda and Oraon, JMM fielded Yogendra Prasad from Gomia, Snehlata Kandulna from Khunti (ST) and Jiga Susaran Horo from Sisai (ST) seats.
Other candidates include Dipak Birua from Chaibasa and Kedar Hazara, a three-term BJP MLA who recently joined the JMM, from Jamua and ex-AJSU Party lawmaker Umakant Rajak.
The six RJD candidates are Suresh Paswan from Deoghar (SC), Sanjay Prasad from Godda, Subhas Yadav from Koderma, Rashmi Prakash from Chatra (SC),Naresh Prasad Singh from Bishrampur and Sanjay Kumar from Husainabad.