JMM believes in dynastic politics; fields CM Soren, wife, brother: Himanta

Assam CM Himanta also suggested that JMM lacks a diverse candidate pool, remarking that if needed, the BJP could supply additional candidates, referring to some leaders who have recently joined JMM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday criticised the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for dynastic politics, pointing to their candidate list that includes "husband, wife, and brother."

Sarma, who is BJP's Jharkhand election co-in-charge, was referring to the JMM list that includes the names of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife and JMM MLA Kalpana Soren and brother Basan Soren.

"The JMM's candidate list clearly reflects dynastic politics," he said, noting the familial connections among the candidates.

He also suggested that the JMM lacks a diverse candidate pool, remarking that if needed, the BJP could supply additional candidates, referring to some leaders from the saffron party who have recently joined the JMM.

 

Polling to the 81-member assembly in the state will be held on November 13 and November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23.

Earlier, 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.