The Congress released its first list of 21 candidates for the Jharkhand assembly election 2024 on Monday night, nominating finance minister Rameshwar Oraon to contest from the Lohardaga seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Ajoy Kumar, a former police officer and former Lok Sabha MP from Jamshedpur, has been fielded from the Jamshedpur East constituency. He is also the party’s in-charge for Tripura, Odisha, and Nagaland.
Rameshwar Oraon, also a former police officer, has held the position of state Congress chief. Among others announced is Shipli Neha Tirkey, who has been fielded from the Mandar constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Having been elected from the seat in the last assembly election, the party has nominated her again. Her father, Bandhu Tirkey, is the chairman of the Congress’s manifesto committee for the Jharkhand polls.
Party has fielded its candidate Irfan Ansari from Jamtra, Badal Patralekh from Jamundi, Pradeep Yadav Poreyahat, Deepika Pandey Singh from Mahagama, Amba Prasad Sahu from Barkagaon, Mamta Devi from Ramgarh, Jai Prakash Patel from Mandu, Munna Singh from Hazaribagh, Kumar Jai Mangal from Bermo.
Purnima Niraj Singh from Jharia, Jaleshwaro Mehato from Baghmara, Banna Gupta from Jamshedpur West, Sona Ram Sinku from Jaganathpur (ST), Rajesh Kachhap from Khijri (ST), Ajay Nath Sahdeo from Hatia, Bhushan Bara from Simdega (ST), Naman Viksal Kongari from Kolebira (ST) and Ramchandra Singh from Manika (ST).
Earlier, the top Congress leadership including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with several senior leaders discussed the candidates’ names during a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee.
The Congress is in alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Jharkhand and currently shares power in the eastern state.
The Jharkhand polls will take place in two phases on November 13 and November 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.
With PTI inputs
