Ranchi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its first list of 66 candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections, nominating key figures to compete for crucial seats. Among the nominees are state chief Babulal Marandi from Dhanwar, Lobin Hembrom from Borio, Sita Soren from Jamtara, and former Chief Minister Champai Soren from Saraikela. Notably, Geeta Balmuchu will contest from Chaibasa, Geeta Koda from Jaganathpur, and Meera Munda from Potka.
Purnima Das Sahu, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister and current Odisha Governor Raghuvar Das, has been selected to run from Jamshedpur East. Meera Munda, spouse of former Chief Minister Arjun Munda, will represent Potka. Additionally, Shatrughan Mahato, sibling of former MLA Dhullu Mahato, is set to contest from Bagmara, while Champai Soren’s son, Babulal Soren, will vie for the Ghatshila seat.
Chandraprakash Choudhary’s brother, Roshanlal Choudhary, will run from Barkagaon under the BJP banner instead of AJSU. The BJP will contest 68 out of the 81 assembly seats, leaving the remaining seats for its allies, including the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
The BJP aims to unseat the JMM-Congress alliance in the two-phase elections, scheduled for November 13 and 20, with vote counting set for November 23. Approximately 2.60 crore voters are eligible to participate in these elections, including 11.84 lakh first-time voters.
