The Congress party announced its candidates for Ranchi, Lohardaga and Singbhum parliamentary constituencies after a late night brainstorming session in the national Capital on Tuesday.
The party high command unanimously decided to field former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay from Ranchi, former Congress’ State president and legislator Sukhdeo Bhagat from Lohardaga and incumbent legislator Geeta Koda from Singbhum.
The decision was taken close to midnight after a long meeting chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee’s (JPCC) President Ajoy Kumar and CLP leader Alamgir Alam attended the meeting and floated the names of the probably candidates to Gandhi for taking a final call, sources said.
The three candidates from Jharkhand featured in the list of 20 Lok Sabha candidates released by the Congress party in New Delhi. The Congress party will contest seven of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the State as a part of a grand alliance between Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and former CM Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P).
With the announcement of the candidates, campaigning for Jharkhand is set to catch pace. Sahay, a three-time MP from Ranchi, is likely to be one of the strongest contenders for the seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to decide on the candidate they wish to pit against Sahay in the important constituency. Speculations, however, are rife that BJP’s incumbent Ranchi parliamentarian Ram Tahal Choudhary is unlikely to get a ticket this time and the party may field a fresh face.
Sahay on Wednesday met JMM Supremo Shibu Soren at his residence in Ranchi and sought his blessings for the elections.
In Lohardaga, which has a sizeable minority population, the local legislator Sukhdeo Bhagat is set to have a face-off with BJP’s Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Sudarshan Bhagat. Defying the Modi wave, Sukhdeo had won the bypoll for Lohardaga Assembly Constituency in 2015 after BJP’s ally AJSU-party’s Kamal Kishore Bhagat was disqualified.
Former CM and ex-Singbhum MP Madhu Koda’s spouse Geeta Koda is sitting legislator from Jagganthpur Assembly Constituency. She enjoys strong support in her legislative assembly constituency and this support, Congress feels, will reflect in parliamentary polls. Koda is set to face tough contest from State BJP president Laxman Gilua in constituency.
Riding on the Modi wave, the BJP had won 12 of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand in 2014. The party only lost to JMM in the latter’s stronghold – Rajmahal and Dumka, both reserved for Scheduled Tribes.