Mail News Service
Jamshedpur: Jamshedpur parliamentary seat is set to witness an interesting fight as six parties have declared their candidates. Apart from sitting BJP MP Bidyut Baran Mahto, JMM candidate Champai Soren, Jharkhand People�s Party has declared former MLA Surya Singh Besra as its candidate. On the other hand Aam Admi Party (AAP) is trying luck on RTI activist Dinesh Mahto, while Trinamool Congress has declared Anjana Mahto, wife of Salboni, West Midnapore MLA Srikant Mahto as its candidate from Jamshedpur seat. Jharkhand Party has declared Santosh Pandey as its candidate. � ��
The Jamshedpur parliamentary constituency has 15,51,297 voters. Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following six Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments Baharagora Ghatshila, Potka, Jugsalai, Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West. Incidentally, there are nearly 1885 polling booths in as many as 1133 polling locations across the district which represents Jamshedpur Parliamentary constituency. The Steel city will go to poll on May 12.
�The fight would be interesting. Bidyut is a veteran leader and a sitting MP however Champai Soren during as MLA Seraikela has gained control over tribal voters. Besides, he is a respectable politician. However, the rising popularity of Bidyut will give a tough fight,� said an election analyst.
Meanwhile, the city is agog with talks related to the elections. From tea stalls to joggers� park, elections have taken over all conversations as a favourite topic in the city these days.
�Ever since the announcement of the elections, the talks doing the round are all about elections. I keep hearing people debating about the candidates in fray. The city is witnessing the heat of intense campaigning too,� noted Ramshwar Prasad, a tea-stall owner at Sakchi.
Nandini Sinha a student activist also said that campuses of the city are abuzz with talks on elections. She said though she cannot predict the winner but she wants that may the best candidate wins.
In 2014, riding on a strong wave of Narendra Modi coupled with Kurmi vote card, the BJP candidate Vidyut Baran Mahto trounced his arch rival sitting JVM MP Dr Ajoy Kumar to clinch Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat in style. The BJP candidate registered his debut in Parliament by defeating Kumar by a margin of 99874 votes.� Mahto received 464144 votes while Ajoy Kumar received 364270 votes. JMM candidate Niroop Mahanty stood third with 13109 votes.
In the 2009 general elections proving all political pundits wrong former Chief Minister Arjun Munda had bagged 3,19,630 votes while outgoing MP, Suman Mahto secured 1,99,957 votes. However, JVM (D) candidate and strongman Arvind Singh alias Malkhan Singh came a distant third with 79,089 votes and Shailendra Mahto, the AJSU candidate stood fourth with 37,400 votes.
According to a political analyst of the area, this year the fight would be interesting since all the candidates will give challenge to each other.
