Jailed ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren not to contest from Dumka, JMM fields MLA Nalin

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Thursday nominated its Shikaripada legislator Nalin Soren from the Dumka Lok Sabha seat, making it clear that jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren will not contest from the constituency as speculated earlier.

The party also fielded its Tundi MLA Mathura Prasad Mahto from Giridih Lok Sabha seat.

''The party has decided to field Nalin Soren from Dumka seat and Mathura Prasad Mahto from Giridih,'' a JMM leader said.

The BJP has already nominated Sita Soren, former JMM MLA and sister-in-law of Hemant Soren, from the Dumka constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Notably, the saffron party had on March 2 renominated sitting MP Sunil Soren from Dumka but later withdrew his candidature in order to field Sita Soren from the seat.

Sunil Soren had defeated JMM president Shibu Soren in the 2019 polls by a margin of 47,590 votes.

Sita Soren, a three-term MLA and elder daughter-in-law of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren, joined the BJP last month.

She alleged that she was ''neglected by the JMM'' and was in ''isolation'' after the death of her husband Durga Soren in 2009.

The Congress on March 27 announced the names of candidates for three Lok Sabha constituencies -- Lohardaga, Khunti and Hazaribag.

Kalicharan Munda, Sukhdeo Bhagat and Jai Prakashbhai Patel will contest the polls in Khunti (ST), Lohardaga (ST) and Hazaribagh seats respectively.

As per the INDIA bloc leaders, an initial seat-sharing agreement has been finalised for all the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

According to the initial understanding, the Congress would contest from seven seats and the JMM from five. The RJD and CPI (ML) Liberation would field candidates in one seat each, they said.

The CPI (ML) Liberation on March 30 named three-time MLA from the Bagodar seat, Vinod Kumar Singh, for the Koderma Lok Sabha constituency in Jharkhand.

The BJP has announced candidates for 13 seats and left Giridih for the AJSU Party.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)