Jharkhand assembly election: Congress takes a backseat in Ranchi, fields JMM member against BJP

RANCHI: The Congress has decided not to field its own candidate against the BJP from the much contentious seat of Ranchi in the upcoming assembly election in Jharkhand, scheduled to take place in five phases.

Instead, Congress's ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has been given the prestigious seat of Ranchi. JMM leader Mahua Maji will be contesting against BJP leader CP Singh.

Notably, BJP has won from Ranchi's seat for six consecutive times in state assembly elections.

According to reports, Congress has also faced opposition from its party workers over its decision of leaving the Ranchi seat.

In the 2014 Jharkhand assembly election, JMM had nominated Mahua Majhi only as its candidate from Ranchi constituency. She was defeated by BJP leader CP them Singh by a margin of 59,000 votes. In the 2014 assembly election, Congress candidate Surendra Singh had got only 7,935 votes from Ranchi seat, and he also lost his deposit.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal had recently announced a pre-poll alliance for the state with former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren as the alliance's CM face.

Congress has released four lists of a total of 27 candidates as of now for the upcoming assembly election in Jharkhand. The Congress will contest 31 seats out of 81 seats in the Jharkhand assembly.

The RJD will contest on seven seats, while the largest chunk of the alliance share has gone to the JMM, which will contest elections on 43 seats.