BJP appoints Ravindra Kumar Rai as working prez for poll-bound Jharkhand

Bharatiya Janata Party's national president JP Nadda on Saturday appointed Ravindra Kumar Rai, a former MP, as the working president of the BJP's Jharkhand unit with immediate effect.

"National President of Bharatiya Janata Party Jagat Prakash Nadda Ji has appointed Dr. Ravindra Kumar Rai, former MP as the working president of Bharatiya Janata PartyJharkhand. This appointment will be effective immediately," said, Arun Singh, National General Secretary and Headquarters Incharge.

Meanwhile, ahead of the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections, the BJP on Friday announced the list of 40-star campaigners for the polls.

The list includes the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari Dharmendra Pradhan and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

BJP CMs such as Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Nayab Singh Saini (Haryana), Mohan Majhi Himanta Biswa Sarma and Vishnu Deo Sai (Chhattisgarh) are also among the star campaigners.

On Saturday, BJP announced its first list of 66 candidates for the polls as the ruling JMM-led alliance finalised the contours of their seat-sharing agreement.

BJP will contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections in alliance with All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). BJP will contest 68 seats, AJSU 10 seats, JD-U two seats and LJP one seat.

The party's state chief, Babulal Marandi, will contest from Dhanwar, Lobin Hembrom from Borio, and Sita Soren from Jamtara. Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Champai Soren has been nominated as the candidate from Saraikella, Geeta Balmuchu from Chaibasa, Geeta Koda from Jaganathpur, and Meera Munda, the wife of Union Minister Arjun Munda, will contest from Potka.

On the other hand, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) released its fifth list of candidates on Friday, JMM said in a press release. Elections are being held on 81 seats of the Jharkhand assembly in two phases on November 13 and November 20.