Jharkhand Assembly polls: 634 candidates file nominations for 2nd phase

Elections to the 81-member House will take place in two phases on November 13 and 20, while counting is scheduled on November 23

The nomination exercise for the second phase of the Jharkhand assembly polls ended on Tuesday with a total of 634 candidates filing their papers, an election official said.

On Tuesday, as many as 297 aspirants submitted their documents to contest elections in 38 seats that would go to polls in the second phase on November 20.

The scrutiny of papers is set to take place on Wednesday, while candidates can withdraw their nominations by November 1.

BJP nominee Gamliyel Hembrom on Tuesday filed his nomination from the Barhait assembly constituency against Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

"Contesting against the chief minister is a challenge but the people of Barhait have decided to accept the challenge. People of the constituency are still struggling for even basic infrastructure such as roads and drinking water, Hembrom said after filing the nomination.

He said that he would work to improve the basic infrastructure, mainly roads, drinking water, electricity and school education.

The BJP on Monday announced Hembrom as a candidate from the seat.

Hembrom had contested from Barhait in the 2019 assembly elections on an AJSU Party ticket and polled 2,573 votes, occupying the fourth position.

Soren is the sitting MLA of Barhait (ST) constituency in the Sahibganj district.

He had won the seat, considered a JMM bastion, by a margin of 25,740 votes over his nearest rival Simon Malto of the BJP in 2019.

Soren won both Dumka and Barahit in the 2019 assembly elections and chose to retain the latter.

Elections to the 81-member House will take place in two phases on November 13 and 20. Counting is scheduled on November 23.

Nominations of 743 candidates have been accepted during scrutiny for the first phase of the Jharkhand polls, the election official said.

During the scrutiny, the nominations of 62 aspirants were rejected, he said.

Forty-three assembly constituencies in the state will go to polls in the first phase on November 13.

Altogether 805 aspirants from across 43 assembly constituencies filed their nomination papers from October 18 to 25.

The scrutiny process was held on Monday.

Barkagaon, Jamshedpur West and Hatia assembly constituencies registered the highest number of candidates at 28, while Kharswan recorded the lowest at 10, he said.

In 2019, as many as 633 candidates from across 43 seats had contested the elections.