Union ministers renominated; 3-time CM replaces 8-term MP as BJP nominee

Union Minister of state for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Sudarshan Bhagat have been re-nominated from Hazaribagh and Lohardaga (ST) constituencies.

Ranchi: Renominating Union ministers Jayant Sinha and Sudarshan Bhagat as Lok Sabha candidates, the BJP Saturday replaced eight-time MP Kariya Munda with former chief minister Arjun Munda from the Khunti (ST) seat. Arjun Munda, who was chief minister thrice, had won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Jamshedpur and hails from neighbouring Saraikela-Kharsawan district.

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Union Minister of state for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Sudarshan Bhagat have been re-nominated from Hazaribagh and Lohardaga (ST) constituencies respectively.

The party, which is contesting 13 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats from Jharkhand, has announced 10 candidates and kept names on hold for Ranchi, Koderma and Chatra constituencies, a senior party leader said here.

The names for these three seats are likely to be announced on March 25," the leader said.

The BJP has left the Giridih seat to NDA ally Ajsu Party.The Giridih seat is currently held by BJP's Ravindra Kumar Pandey.

Hemlal Murmu, who lost to JMM's Vijay Kumar Hansdak in the 2014 general elections, found his name in the first list released for Jharkhand.

Another losing BJP candidate Sunil Soren was re-nominated for the Dumka (ST) seat. Sunil Soren was defeated by the JMM president Shibu Soren in the last elections. Nishikant Dubey and Pashupati Nath Singh have been given opportunities to make it hat-trick of wins from Godda and Dhanbad Lok Sabha seats.

Other sitting MPs who have been re-nominated are Vidhyut Varan Mahato (Jamshedpur), the party's state unit president Laxman Gilua (Singhbhum-ST) and former Director General of Police Vishnu Dayal Ram (Palamau-SC).

The state goes for four-phase elections from April 29.

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