Jharkhand Assembly Polls: JMM Announces First List Of 3 Candidates For

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Sunday announced its first list of three candidates for the assembly polls in the state.

Party president Shibu Soren approved the names of Bhushan Tirkey (Gumla-ST), Chamra Linda (Bishunpur-ST) and Mithelesh Kumar Thakur (Garhwa), a JMM release said here.

The JMM, the Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had recently announced a pre-poll alliance in the state. Former chief minister and JMM working president Hemant Soren will be the alliance’s chief ministerial face.

The Congress will contest 31 out of 81 seats in Jharkhand. The RJD will contest on seven seats, while the largest chunk of the alliance share has gone to the JMM, which will contest on 43 seats.

Jharkhand will vote in five phases, with the first one on November 30 and the last on December 20. Results will be declared on December 23. The last date of filing nominations for the first phase of the elections is November 13.

Earlier in the day, the BJP announced its first list of 52 candidates, while the Congress declared five candidates.

The BJP will seek to retain power in Jharkhand amid a determined bid by opposition parties, mainly the Congress and the JMM, to oust the Raghubar Das-headed government.