The INDIA bloc in Jharkhand released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, on Monday, with the Congress naming 21 candidates. The party has renominated its MLAs from 18 seats, except Mandu, Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur East. Former Jharkhand Congress president Ajoy Kumar is the candidate from Jamshedpur East and will take on Odisha Governor and former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Das Sahu. Kumar had resigned from the Congress after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing major differences with the senior leadership within the state party unit. He had won the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha bypoll in 2011 after Arjun Munda had vacated the seat. One of the new entrants in the list is Munna Singh from Hazaribagh, who had previously contested on a Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) ticket. Singh will take on BJP’s Pradeep Prasad, also a new entrant in Hazaribagh, earlier represented by BJP’s Manish Jaiswal. Jaiprakash Bhai Patel, who had resigned from the BJP and unsuccessfully contested the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha election from Congress, will fight for the Mandu Assembly seat. Health Minister Banna Gupta will contest from Jamshedpur West, leading to a neck-and-neck contest with JD(U)’s Saryu Roy. In the last election, Roy had contested as an Independent candidate from Jamshedpur East defeating then BJP chief minister Raghubar Das. However, with Roy contesting from Jamshedpur West in this election, it will be a tough contest for the incumbent Gupta, party sources said. Minister Irfan Ansari will contest from the Jamtara seat where he will take on Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) co-founder Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law Sita Soren of the BJP. The Assembly elections in Jharkhand will be held in two phases on November 13 and November 20, and results will be declared on November 23. The ruling JMM-Congress combine will contest 70 of the state’s total 81 seats, leaving 11 seats for INDIA bloc allies such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left.
