Jharkhand is gearing up for its upcoming assembly elections. Kalpana Soren, a leader from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and wife of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, has filed her nomination to contest from the Gandey Assembly constituency. She currently holds this seat, having won it in a by-election in May by defeating Dilip Kumar Verma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 27,149 votes. The by-election was held after the previous JMM MLA, Sarfaraz Ahmad, resigned.
The JMM has announced its first list of 35 candidates for the elections scheduled on November 13 and 20. Chief Minister Hemant Soren will be contesting from the Barhait constituency. Other candidates include MT Raja for Rajmahal, Dhananjay Soren for Boriyo, Basant Soren for Dumka, Hafizul Hasan for Madhupur, Bebi Devi for Damuri, Baidhnath Ram for Latehar, and Kedar Hazra for Jamua.
On the other side, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has released a list of six candidates. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav announced that seat-sharing talks have been successful and that the alliance is strong. He emphasized that the people of Jharkhand wish to see Hemant Soren as Chief Minister again.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) also released its list of candidates, expressing disappointment with the current seat-sharing arrangement within the INDIA alliance. CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak stated that the party plans to field candidates in 15 seats.
Previously, Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir announced that the JMM and Congress would share 70 seats, leaving 11 seats for the RJD and Left parties.
Meanwhile, the BJP has unveiled its first list of 66 candidates. State BJP chief Babulal Marandi will contest from Dhanwar. Other notable BJP candidates include Lobin Hembrom from Borio, Sita Soren from Jamtara, and former Chief Minister Champai Soren from Saraikella. Geeta Balmuchu will run from Chaibasa, Geeta Koda from Jagannathpur, and Meera Munda, wife of Union Minister Arjun Munda, will contest from Potka.
The Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with the counting of votes on November 23.
