The JMM on Tuesday announced its candidates for three Lok Sabha constituencies, with party chief Shibu Soren contesting from Dumka, of which he is outgoing MP. Along with Dumka, the JMM will contest from Giridih and Rajmahal nominating MLA Jagarnath Mahato and Vijay Hansda respectively. Hansda, a former Youth Congress member and son of two-time Rajmahal MP the late Thomas Hansda, joined the JMM only last week. The JMM intends to contest from four of the state's 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, with the other 10 being given to the Congress in the seat-sharing deal. The Congress, in turn, is set to let the RJD have one or two seats from its share. The party decided to take more time to decide on its candidate from Jamshedpur, with its first choice candidate - Savita Mahato, the wife of former deputy chief minister Sudhir Mahato who passed away in January - declining chief minister Hemant Soren's offer. This seems to have cleared the way for Astik Mahato, a popular local leader who is also in touch with the TMC, to contest from the seat. The CPI (M-L) Liberation announced on Tuesday that it would contest from eight Jharkhand seats. Three each of its candidates are adivasis and women. "We will support the Marxist Coordination Committee in Dhanbad while in Rajmahal, the party will back the CPI-M candidate," said national general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya in Ranchi.
