The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Tuesday released a list of 35 candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly Elections, naming Chief Minister Hemant Soren from Barhait.
CM Soren's wife Kalpana Soren will contest from Gandey Assembly constituency, while his brother Basant Soren will contest from Dumka.
The party named M.T. Raja from Rajmahal, Dhananjay Soren from Borio, Stephen Marandi from Maheshpur and Alok Soren from Shikaripara.
Moreover, Ravindranath Mahto has been fielded from Nala, Hafizul Hasan from Madhupur, Uday Shankar Singh from Sarath, Sudiway Kumar from Giridih and Bebi Devi from Dumru.
Of the 35 JMM nominees, Assembly Speaker Rabindranath Mahto from Nala, Minister Mithilesh Thakur from Garhwa, Sonu Sudivya from Giridih and Bebi Devi from Dumri.
Hemant Soren is the sitting MLA from Barhait (ST) constituency in Sahibganj district. He won the seat by 25,740 votes over his nearest BJP rival Simon Malto in the 2019 assembly elections. Meanwhile, his wife Kalpana Soren had won the Gandey bypoll by 27,149 votes over her nearest BJP rival Dilip Kumar Verma.
Other candidates include Dipak Birua from Chaibasa and Kedar Hazara, a three-term BJP MLA who recently joined the JMM, from Jamua. The JMM also fielded Umakant Rajak from Chandankyari (SC), Mathura Prasad Mahto from Tundi, Samir Mohanti from Bahragora, Ramdas Soren from Ghatshila (ST), and Sanjeev Sardar from Potka.
Additionally, Mangal Kalindi will contest from Jugsalai (SC), Sabita Mahto from Ichagarh, Niral Purti from Manjhgaon (ST), Jagat Manjhi from Manoharpur (ST), Dashrath Gagrai from Kharsawan (ST), Vikas Munda from Tamar (ST), Sudeep Gudia from Torpa (ST), Bhushan Tirkey from Gumla (ST), Baidyanath Ram from Latehar (SC), Anant Pratap Deo from Bhavnathpur, Manoj Chandra from Simaria (SC), Amit Mahto from Silli, Janki Yadav from Barkatha, Niazamuddin Ansari from Dhanwar, and Hemlal Murmu from Littipara.
The Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and November 20, and the counting of votes will be taken up on November 23.
The Congress on Monday late evening had released its first list of 21 candidates for the Jharkhand polls fielding Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon from the Lohardaga seat, senior party leader Ajoy Kumar from the Jamshedpur East constituency.