The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its second list of candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections. The saffron party announced candidates for two assembly constituencies including Barhait (ST) and Tundi.
From the Barhait (ST) seat under Sahibganj district, the party had fielded Gamliyel Hembrom who will take on Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Vikash Mahato is the other candidate on the list who will contest from the Tundi assembly seat under the Dhanbad district.
Hembrom contested the 2019 assembly elections from Barhait seat on an AJSU ticket and ended fourth with 2,573 votes.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo and Chief Minister Hemant Soren filed his nomination for the upcoming elections last week while his wife Kalpana Soren filed her candidacy from Gandey seat in Girdih district.
Considered a Soren bastion family, Hemant is the sitting MLA from Barhait seat which he won in 2019 by a margin of 25,740 votes over his nearest rival Simon Malto of the BJP.
Soren won Dumka and Barhait seats during the last assembly polls but chose to retain the latter.
On October 19, the BJP released its first list of 66 candidates for the assembly elections. The party is contesting 68 of the 81 assembly seats in the state, leaving the remaining for the allies.
Meanwhile, the JMM has announced candidates in 43 seats of which it had won 30 seats in the last assembly elections.
The elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Legislative Assembly will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20 while the counting will be held on November 23 along with the voting in Maharashtra.
INDIA bloc allies will contest the elections in a pre-poll alliance with the Congress and JMM competing on 70 of the 81 seats while Rashtriya Janata Dal and Left parties will fight on the remaining 11 seats.