RANCHI: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and wife Kalpana featured in the first list of 35 candidates released by JMM late Tuesday for the assembly elections on November 13 and 20.
Hemant will contest from Barhait (ST) in Sahibganj district and Kalpana from Gandey in Giridih. Basant, Hemant’s younger brother, will also seek another term from JMM bastion of Dumka (ST).
JMM and INDIA bloc ally Congress have decided to fight on 70 out of 81 seats in the assembly polls and leave the rest for other its partners, including RJD.”The remaining candidates will be announced soon,” JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey said.
Six candidates, including minister Mithilesh Kumar Thakur who featured in the first list, have already filed their nominations.
The tribal-focused JMM, however, withheld the announcement of candidates in key seats like Jama (ST) and Seraikela (ST).
While JMM workers in Jama are up in arms over the party’s possible move to pick BJP turncoat Lois Marandi, the party is still in the hunt for a challenger to its former vice-president Champai Soren in Seraikela. Champai, a former chief minister, has switched to the BJP.
Most current ministers were fielded from their respective constituencies. Ajsu-P turncoat Uma Shankar Rajak was fielded against BJP’s Amar Kumar Bauri in Chandankyari while the party’s former MLA Amit Kumar Mahto was fielded from Silli against Ajsu-P chief Sudesh Mahto.