Jharkhand polls: JMM's first list out, Hemant Soren to contest from Barhait

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha released its first list of 35 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls on Wednesday, fielding Chief Minister Hemant Soren from Barhait and Kalpana Soren from Gandey segments.

The assembly polls will be held in two phases -- on November 13 and 20 -- while the results will be declared on November 23.

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 had won the Gandey 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.

Of the 35 JMM nominees, Basant Soren, the incumbent 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.

This constituency was vacated by his elder brother, Hemant Soren, who won both Dumka and Barahit in the December 2019 assembly elections and chose to retain the latter. Hemant Soren had won Dumka by a margin of 13,188 votes against Marandi.

Assembly Speaker Mahto secured the Nala seat in Jamtara with a margin of 3,520 votes, defeating BJP's Satyanand Jha in the last elections. Mahto has previously won this seat in 2005 and 2014.

Other candidates include Dipak Birua from Chaibasa and Kedar Hazara, a three-term BJP MLA who recently joined the JMM, from Jamua.

The JMM also fielded MT Raja from Rajmahal, Dhananjay Soren from Borio (ST), Stephen Marandi from Maheshpur (ST), Alok Soren from Shikaripara, Hafijul Hussain from Madhupur, Uday Shankar Singh from Sarath, Umakant Rajak from Chandankyari (SC), Mathura Prasad Mahto from Tundi, Samir Mohanti from Bahragora, Ramdas Soren from Ghatshila (ST), and Sanjeev Sardar from Potka.

Additionally, Mangal Kalindi will contest from Jugsalai (SC), Sabita Mahto from Ichagarh, Niral Purti from Manjhgaon (ST), Jagat Manjhi from Manoharpur (ST), Dashrath Gagrai from Kharsawan (ST), Vikas Munda from Tamar (ST), Sudeep Gudia from Torpa (ST), Bhushan Tirkey from Gumla (ST), Baidyanath Ram from Latehar (SC), Anant Pratap Deo from Bhavnathpur, Manoj Chandra from Simaria (SC), Amit Mahto from Silli, Janki Yadav from Barkatha, Niazamuddin Ansari from Dhanwar, and Hemlal Murmu from Littipara.

The INDIA bloc partners will contest the upcoming assembly polls together, with the Congress and JMM competing for 70 of the 81 seats, while the remaining 11 will be contested by the RJD and Left parties. The RJD announced candidates for six seats on Tuesday.

In the opposition, the saffron party will contest 68 seats, the AJSU Party will take 10, the JD(U) will contest 2, and the LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest 1.

Filing of nomination papers for 43 assembly constituencies of Jharkhand, which are going to polls on November 13 in the first phase, began on Friday and will continue till October 25.

Altogether 2.60 crore electors, including 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 1.13 lakh persons with disabilities (PwD), third gender and senior citizens over 85 years of age, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the upcoming elections.