Jharkhand polls: CPI releases first list of candidates

Mahendra Pathak the state secretary of the Communist Party of India CPI announced the partys first list of candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections reported news agency ANIThis decision follows the partys dissatisfaction with the current seatsharing arrangement within the INDIA allianceThe CPI leader expressed disappointment with assurances received from leaders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha JMM and Congress regarding seat sharingHe said We have been a part of the INDIA alliance We had contacted the big leaders of both JMM and Congress regarding seat sharing and were also given assurances but we were disappointed That is why we have decided to field our candidates on 15 Assembly seats in Jharkhand Today we are announcing our candidates for some seatsThe candidates announced include Kanhai Chandramal Pahadiya from the Nala Assembly Chhaya from Sarath Assembly Mahadev Ram from Barkatha Assembly Ruchir Tiwari from Daltonganj Santosh Kumar Rajak from Kanke Suresh Kumar Bhuiya from Simaria Doman Bhuiya from Chatra Mahendra Oraon will contest from Bishanpur Ghanshyam Pathak is fighting from Bhawanathpur stated ANIPathak further said that candidates for the remaining constituencies such as Ranchi Mandu Barkagaon Hazaribagh and Poreyahat will be revealed in two daysPathak criticised both the Jharkhand government and the BJP for allegedly misleading voters with promises of freebies He stated The state government has disappointed the youth here for 5 years we will contest elections outside the allianceEarlier announcements from Chief Minister Hemant Soren indicated that the JMM and Congress would share 70 seats while the Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD and Left parties would divide the remaining 11 seatsRJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha criticised this unilateral decision made by the CongressJMM alliance on SundayMeanwhile the BJP released its first list of 66 candidates on October 20Notable candidates are the partys state chief Babulal Marandi who will contest from Dhanwar Lobin Hembrom from Borio and Sita Soren from JamtaraFormer Chief Minister of Jharkhand Champai Soren will contest from Saraikella Geeta Balmuchu from Chaibasa Geeta Koda from Jaganathpur and Meera Munda the wife of Union Minister Arjun Munda will contest from PotkaThe Jharkhand Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in two phases on November 13 and November 20 with vote counting set for November 23 as confirmed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv KumarWith inputs from PTI