Ranchi, Oct 23 — The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Wednesday released its first list of 35 candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections, with Chief Minister Hemant Soren contesting from Barhait and his wife, Kalpana Soren, standing from Gandey.
The elections will take place in two phases on November 13 and 20, with results to be announced on November 23.
Hemant Soren, who currently represents the Barhait (ST) constituency in Sahibganj district, will seek re-election. He previously won the seat in 2019, defeating BJP’s Simon Malto by over 25,000 votes. Kalpana Soren, who won the Gandey bypoll in 2021, will also be contesting from the same seat.
In the JMM’s first candidate list, several key names were announced. Basant Soren, the chief minister’s brother, will contest from Dumka. He previously defeated former BJP minister Lois Marandi in the 2019 elections. Other prominent candidates include Assembly Speaker Rabindranath Mahto, who will contest from Nala, and Minister Mithilesh Thakur, who is running from Garhwa.
Among other candidates, Sonu Sudivya will stand for Giridih, Bebi Devi for Dumri, Dipak Birua for Chaibasa, and Stephen Marandi for Maheshpur. Former BJP MLA Kedar Hazara, who recently joined the JMM, will contest from Jamua.
The INDIA bloc partners, comprising the JMM, Congress, and RJD, have decided to contest the polls together. The JMM and Congress will vie for 70 of the 81 seats, while the remaining 11 will be contested by the RJD and Left parties. The RJD has already announced candidates for six seats.
On the opposition side, the BJP will contest 68 seats, the AJSU Party 10, JD(U) 2, and the LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest 1.
The filing of nominations for the first phase of the elections, covering 43 constituencies, began last week and will continue until October 25. A total of 2.60 crore voters, including 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 1.13 lakh persons with disabilities, third-gender individuals, and senior citizens over 85 years old, are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections.
