Ranchi, Oct 20 (PTI) The AJSU Party, an ally of the NDA in Jharkhand, on Sunday released its first list of eight candidates for the assembly elections in the state and nominated its supremo Sudesh Kumar Mahto from Silli.
As per the seat-sharing arrangement, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party will contest 10 seats, JD(U) 2 and LJP (Ram Vilas) one while the saffron party will field candidates in the remaining 68 constituencies.
Mahto had, in 2019, won the Silli assembly seat by a margin of 20,195 votes, defeating his nearest rival of JMM’s Seema Devi.
The AJSU Party said its sitting MLA Sunita Choudhary will contest from Ramgarh and Neru Shanti Bhagat from Lohardaga.
Choudhary had won the by-poll to the Ramgarh seat in March 2023, defeating UPA-backed Congress’ Bajrang Mahto by a margin of 21,970 votes.
The by-election was necessitated due to the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.
Choudhary, in 2019, was defeated by Mamta Devi by a margin of 28,718 votes from the Ramgarh seat.
Bhagat, who is contesting from Lohardaga, had secured third position in 2019. Rameshwar Oraon of Congress had defeated Sukhdeo Bhagat of the Bharatiya Janata Party there.
AJSU Party’s sitting MLA Lambodar Mahto, who had defeated Babita Devi of JMM by a margin of 10,93 votes last time, is seeking re-election from Gomia.
Ramchandra Sahis, who secured third position in Jugsalai in 2019, will contest from the seat on an AJSU Party ticket, while Nirmal Mahto will try his luck from Mandu.
Nirmal Mahto had secured the second position in Mandu in 2019.
Another nominee Harelal Mahto, who had secured second place from Ichagarh five years ago, will contest from there while Azhar Islam was fielded from Pakur, the AJSU Party said in a statement.
Elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held in two phases, on November 13 and 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.
In 2019, the JMM-led alliance won 47 seats, wresting power from the BJP in the state.
The JMM had won 30 seats, while the Congress bagged 16, and the RJD one.
The BJP had secured 25 seats, JVM-P three, AJSU Party two, and the CPI-ML and NCP one each, besides two Independents emerging victorious. PTI NAM BDC BDC
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