Jharkhand Rajya Sabha Polls: JMM’s Mahua Maji, BJP’s Aditya Sahu poised for RS berth 

Congress decides against giving candidates for lack of numbers

Ranchi, May 31: Rajya Sabha candidate from ruling JMM for Jharkhand, Mahua Maji filed her nomination papers at state assembly on Tuesday.

State chief minister and executive president of the JMM Hemant Soren accompanied her along with other JMM legislators, including Stephen Marandi, and Sarfaraz Ahmed when she reached to file her nomination.

The Congress legislators remained conspicuous by their absence during the nomination. It is said that they remained absent to mark their protest against the JMM, whose leader allegedly ditched Congress party national president Sonia Gandhi on the issue of giving a joint candidate of UPA for the Rajya Sabha election.

RJD lone legislator and state labour minister Satyanand Bhokta was present to express his solidarity with the candidate. It was learnt that Satyanand Bhokta  arrived in Ranchi from Chatra his assembly constituency by a state arranged helicopter.

Maji filed three sets of nomination papers. None of the congress party legislators signed as proposers in any of the sets.

Maji filed three sets of nomination papers. None of the congress party legislators signed as proposers in any of the sets.

Maji was earlier given the opportunity to contest Mayoral election in 2018 from Ranchi Municipal Corporation and the assembly election in 2014 and 2019 from the Ranchi assembly constituency. She had lost in all the three opportunities.

Meanwhile BJP candidate for Rajya Sabha Aditya Sahu today filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election at the state assembly.

It was getting to 12.15 pm when Sahu accompanied by over 5000 BJP supporters reached the assembly premises and completed the documentation formalities.  He filed his nomination paper before returning officer Javed Haider.

Those present along with him at the time of nomination included BJP legislature party chief Babulal Marandi, Ajsu chief Sudesh Mahto, BJP national vice president and former chief minister Raghubar Das and state BJP president and Rajya Sabha member Deepak Prakash and Khunti MLA Neelkant Singh Munda.

Sahu filed three sets of nomination papers. In the first set, Marandi was the proposer, in the second set Mahto was the proposer and in the third set proposer remained Neelkanth Singh Munda, a BJP worker said.

With only two nominations filed for two Rajya Sabha berths from Jharkhand there will be no election and both the candidates will be declared winner uncontested during the election scheduled on June 10.

The chances of Congress fielding its own candidate, which would have led to election, fizzled out late in the afternoon as Congress Jharkhand in-charge Avinash Pande after marathon meeting with MLAs said that they would not field a candidate as they do not have the numbers.