Jharkhand Assembly election 2019: PM Modi to address 2 rallies on Dec 3

Ranchi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address two public rallies in Jharkhand on Tuesday (December 3), including one at Birsa Stadium in Khunti at 12.00, and the other at Gopal Maidan (Bishtupur) in Jamshedpur. There are 81 constituencies in Jharkhand, out of which 20 will go for polling in the second phase on December 7, while the counting of votes will take place on December 23. 

Incumbent Chief Minister Raghubar Das is seeking a second five-year term. Das has become the first chief minister of the state to complete a full 5-year term in office. 

Apart from BJP, Congress, JMM, and RJD are the major players in the state Assembly elections. Congress, JMM, and RJD are contesting the polls together.

The tenure of the current Assembly ends on January 5, 2020. It will be the fourth Assembly election in Jharkhand since the state was carved out in 2000 from Bihar. 

As many as 67 assembly constituencies in the state are "very extremely" to "extremely" affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said.

BJP's state spokesman quits the party, joins NPP to contest from Nala

In a jolt to the BJP in Jharkhand, its principal spokesman Praveen Prabhakar resigned from the party, to contest the Assembly election from Nala on an NPP ticket.

Prabhakar, who had been among the founding members of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), was associated with the BJP for the past five years. He was said to be unhappy with the ticket distribution in the state by the party.

Prabhakar joined the National Peoples` Party (NPP), headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, at its national convention at the Constitution Club here on Sunday, and was named its candidate from Nala, which will go to polls in the last of the five phases on December 20.

Shillong MP and former Union Minister Agatha Sangma, Meghalaya Home Minister James Sangma and NPP`s Jharkand chief Raj Kumar Poddar were also present at the programme. Recently, the NPP was recognised as a national political party by the Election Commission, making it one of the eight to enjoy this status.

Prabhakar said that he does not have any personal grievance with the BJP, but it needs to do some soul-searching in his state. 

Praising the leadership of Modi and Amit Shah, he said that under them, "the nation was progressing on all fronts, but in Jharkhand, the aspirations of the people were being constantly snuffed. I dedicated all I had for the creation of Jharkhand (as a separate state) and will continue to fight all my life for its development. I have full faith that I will get the assistance and guidance of NPP leaders in this endeavour...".