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Journalism of Courage
The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 14 candidates for the Jharkhand assembly elections, retaining eight of the 14 who won in 2009.
The announcement also ended speculations about the party’s pre-poll alliance with the JVM(P). Congress leaders had conducted two rounds of talks with Babulal Marandi’s party, with one of the options on the table being for Marandi to merge his outfit and become the leader of the Congress in the state. “He thinks so highly of himself,” said a frustrated Congress functionary privy to the negotiations. The Congress will now contest from 76 seats; the RJD will get 10, while the JD(U) will field candidates from five.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the break-up of the party’s grand alliance with the JMM continued on Saturday, with most state-based leaders quick to shift the blame to General Secretary and state in-charge B.K. Hariprasad. His October 15 comments in Ranchi where he declared that the Congress would fight under the leadership of Hemant Soren has been widely panned. “Why did he make the statement even before the seat-sharing formula was formalised? We are a national party, we have certain procedures to follow before picking a leader. Even leaders in Delhi were surprised at what he said,” said a leader requesting anonymity. Hariprasad was unavailable for comments.
The party has decided against giving tickets to Saurabh Narain Singh and Yogendra Saw, MLAs from Hazaribagh and Barkagaon respectively. Sao – expelled from his position as minister in the outgoing government – is in jail, having been arrested for founding two criminal gangs. His wife is in the race to replace Sao. Amidst rumours of him leaving the party, Singh – who unsuccessfully contested in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year – said he has opted out this time. “I want to concentrate on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
The Congress has given Ajay Dubey, eldest son of sitting Bishrampur MLA Chandrashekhar Dubey, the chance to replace his father. The elder Dubey too, was fired from the Hemant Soren cabinet for making personal accusations against the CM. He then left to join the Trinamool Congress but has since returned to the Congress fold. No replacement has been announced yet for Sawna Lakra, the Khijri legislator, has been disqualified after been convicted in a murder case.
Bidesh Singh, who rebelled and won as an Independent from Panki the last time, has been welcomed back. Pradesh Congress President Sukhdeo Bhagat, who came last time, has been re-nominated for Lohadaga.
