Campaigning for Mandar by-poll has gained momentum with both BJP and Congress releasing the list of star campaigners for by-poll election. As the by-poll is held at the time when the ruling coalition is having an unsavory situation---communal clashes in Ranchi, ED probe against senior IAS officer and chief minister himself under ED scanner over allotment of mining lease.
The by-poll will set the referendum against the ruling coalition of which Congress is partner while at the same time it will be a litmus test for BJP as the Saffron party has failed to win any by-poll after the Soren government came to power in 2019.
Both the BJP and Congress are leaving no stone unturned to win the election. The Congress has fielded Shilpi Neha Tirkey daughter of Bandhu Tirkey who lost his membership after CBI Court found him guilty in assets disproportionate case. BJP has fielded Gangotri Kujur who was party MLA from 20214 to 19.
The BJP star campaigner list includes leaders from both Bihar and Jharkhand. Senior BJP leader from Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, Buxar MP and union minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Mangal Pandey, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, Nikki Hembrom and others.The Jharkhand BJP leaders who find place in star campaigner list are Deepak Prakash, Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Raghubar Das among others.
As Mandar is ST reserved constituency, BJP tribal leaders such as Rajya Sabha MP Sameer Oroan, Khunti MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda, Lohardaga MP Sudarshan Bhagat, Dumka MP Sunil Soren, State ST morcha president Shivshankar Oroan among others find place in the list.
Moreover, the BJP to check indiscipline within the party has suspended Deo Kumar Dhan from primary membership of the party for six years. BJP suspended its member Dev Kumar Dhan on Sunday for six years for filing nomination as an independent candidate in the ensuing Mandar bypoll. Dhan was upset after being denied the party ticket for the polls. BJP has officially fielded its former MLA Gangotri Kujur on the seat this time. In 2019, Dhan was given the ticket but had lost to Bandhu Tirkey, who had then fought the ticket of the now defunct JVM-P.
The Congress party too has released its star campaigner list. The 40 Congress leaders who are in list of star campaigners includes state in-charge Avinash Pandey, president Rajesh Thakur, minister Alamgir Alam, Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, Subodhkant Sahai, Banna Gupta, Badal Patralekh, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Furkan Ansari, CS Dubey, Krishnanand Jha, Pradeep Balmuchu, Sukhdev Bhagat, Dheeraj Sahu, Geeta Koda among others.
