Ranchi: Putting an end to all speculations, Congress president Sonia Gandhi gave nod to the candidature of Ranchi sitting MP and party veteran Subodhkant Sahay for the Lok Sabha polls.
Making the announcement, party leaders said a list of 71 candidates had been issued by the party. This is the second list issued by the party. The party has decided to contest the polls with a pre-poll alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Janata Dal. Under the agreement, four seats have been given to JMM. These include Dumka, Rajmahal, Giridih and Jamshedpur. One seat has been given to Rashtriya Janata Dal at Palamu.
Party leaders said a consensus is yet to be reached between JMM and Congress over the Chatra seat. This is the reason no decision has been taken on the name of candidate for this seat.
Earlier, the Congress had issued a list of candidates for Dhanbad, Godda, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Chaibasa and Lohardagga.
Due to absence of Subodhkant Sahay�s name in the list, his supporters were clueless as to what lay ahead in the polls for the veteran leader. The announcement of Sahay�s name has led the leader�s supporters to heave a sigh of relief. Sahay himself, was camping in New Delhi to pitch for his candidature along with his supporters a few days back. He met Sonia Gandhi, Oscar Fernandez, Ahmad Patel, BK Hari Prasad, Dr Shakil Ahmad, V George and others to claim the ticket.
Sahay has won the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009.
