NDA ally AJSU releases first list of 8 candidates for Jharkhand Assembly polls

All Jharkhand Students Union president Sudesh Kumar Mahato has retained his Silli Assembly constituency

The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) on Sunday released the first list of eight candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly elections.

AJSU president Sudesh Kumar Mahato has retained his Silli constituency whereas Sunita Chaoudhary has been made the candidate from Ramgarh. The list was released by AJSU’s central general secretary Rajendra Mehta.

On Friday, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of Jharkhand had announced seat-sharing arrangement, under which the BJP will contest in 68 seats, the AJSU in 10, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) in two seats and Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in one seat. In the last Assembly elections, the BJP had contested solo and the AJSU was not part of the NDA.

Neeru Shanti Bhagat is the candidate from Lohardaga constituency while Lambodar Mahato will contest from Gomia, Ramchandra Sahis from Jugsalai and Nirmal Mahato from Mandu, Harelal Mahato from Icchagarh and Azhar Islam from the Pakur Assembly seat. Presently, the AJSU has three MLAs in the Jharkhand Assembly.

Two-phase polls

The Jharkhand election will be completed in two phases, with the first phase of polling on November 13 in 43 constituencies and the second phase on November 20 in 38 seats. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.

Jharkhand has a total of 81 constituencies across 24 districts. Of these, 44 are general, 28 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and nine for Scheduled Castes (SC).

In the last Assembly polls in 2019, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won 47 seats whereas the BJP slipped to 25 seats from 37 it held in 2014.

The first list of candidates was released on Sunday after the meeting of the party’s parliamentary board chaired by AJSU chief Sudesh Mahato.

The declaration of candidates for two seats of BJP quota — Tundi and Barhait, and two seats of the AJSU quota — Manoharpur and Dumri, is now left. The candidates for the two seats of Janata Dal (United) — Jamshedpur West and Tamar, have not been announced whereas a candidate for the LJP (RV) in Chatra constituency is pending.

Former RJD leader Janardan Paswan, who has joined the LJP (RV), may get the ticket for this seat.

Published - October 21, 2024 05:45 am IST