RS polls: UPA allies announce candidates

JMM and Congress, allies in the Hemant Soren-led government, today announced one candidate each for the Rajya Sabha elections while the BJP is contemplating to support an independent MLA.
"The party has decided to field Savita Mahato," JMM's General Secretary Suprio Bhattacharya told PTI here.
She is the widow of former deputy chief minister and JMM leader Sudhir Mahato, who passed away on January 20.
Congress General Secretary Sailesh Sinha said the party has nominated former Assembly speaker Alamgir Alam for the biennial elections.
The BJP, which is not fielding its own candidate, has been approached by sitting RS MP Parimal Nathwani, who represents the Upper House from Jharkhand.

"Nathwani ji approached us. We will decide tomorrow," BJP's state unit Ravindra Rai said.

As the BJP, he added, could not help any candidate win on its own numbers it was looking for some other MLAs before deciding whom to support.
"We want to stop UPA candidates," Rai said, hinting that the party would support an independent candidate.
The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric), which has 11 MLAs, has already announced that it would stay away from the elections. Two seats are falling vacant in Jharkhand.
While the BJP and the JMM have 18 MLAs each, the Congress has 13 legislators.

Ajsu party's spokesperson Dev Sharan Bhagat said, "The party is still locked in a meeting as to whom to support."
The Ajsu party has six MLAs and the BJP might be expecting it to support an independent candidate for the February 7 biennial polls.