Sulking RJD now says INDIA bloc stands united, releases list of 6 candidates for Jharkhand polls

According to sources, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, RJD, and CPI(ML) will contest in 41, 30, six, and four seats respectively in elections to the 81-member legislative Assembly.

On Monday, Congress released its list of 21 candidates, including 18 tickets that were repeated from the last election. JMM is yet to release its list, with sources saying it is likely to come by Wednesday.

The six seats the RJD is contesting are Chatra (SC), Deoghar (SC), Bishrampur, Hussainabad, Koderma, and Godda.

From the Chatra seat, RJD minister Satyanand Bhogta’s daughter-in-law Rashmi Prakash is the party’s candidate. In 2022, Parliament passed a Bill to include the Bhogta community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list. It had previously been in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. The change meant that Satyanand Bhogta could no longer contest from the Chatra seat that is reserved for SC communities. However, Rashmi Prakash comes from a Schedule Caste community.

Another notable inclusion in the RJD list is Subhash Yadav, who is currently in jail on charges of money laundering. Considered close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi, Subhash had unsuccessfully contested in 2019 from Chatra. In the coming Assembly election, he will contest from the Koderma seat against BJP’s incumbent and former minister Neera Yadav.

Former minister Suresh Paswan has also been included in the list, and will take on the BJP’s Narayan Das in Deoghar Assembly segment. He had lost to Das in the 2019 elections by a margin of less than 3,000 votes.

RJD had contested seven seats in 2019.