XLRI Jamshedpur Professor Gourav Vallabh will be taking on five-time MLA and state chief minister Raghubar Das in the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly Election 2019 from the all-important Jamshedpur East constituency. Jharkhand Assembly Elections will be held in five phases starting November 30. The final phase of voting will take place on December 20 while counting of votes for Jharkhand Assembly Election will take place on Dec 23.
"I thank everyone and the Congress Party for the faith entrusted and I would like to stand up to everyone's expectations," Gourav Vallabh tweeted after Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi confirmed his candidature. Gourav Vallabh is also a national spokesperson of the Congress Party.
"I have taken the electoral plunge to show the intelligentsia cares about playing a role in fixing problems of citizens," Gourav Vallabh was quoted as saying.
Vallabh is no new to politics though. He has earned a name for himself as Congress spokesperson in Television debates. Vallabh's debate with BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on TV has gained a lot of takers on social media. No doubt, Jamshedpur East is going to be the centre of all battles in Jharkhand. He is being touted as a man who is capable to take on the BJP, at least when it comes to verbal volleys.
Congress Party is in alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in the state. Voting in Jamshedpur East constituency will be held on December 7 in the second phase. Check the constituency-wise voting date in Jharkhand Assembly Elections. Jharkhand has 81-member Assembly. In 2014 Assembly elections, current Chief Minister Raghubar Das had defeated his nearest Congress rival by almost 70,000 votes. Raghubar Das was a former Tata Steel employee. He has not lost an election since 1995.
Jharkhand Assembly Elections will be closely watched one especially with the BJP hitting the ground on the back of a massive win in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. The Lok Sabha win, however, seems a long-ago one especially after the election results in Maharashtra and Haryana. Both the result did not go according to the BJP's liking. The party is increasingly realising that if there's no Modi, the whole ballgame changes. Can Jharkhand reverse that trend for the BJP? The answer lies in the future.
What has also made things a bit complicated for the BJP, is its NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party? The LJP-led by Jamui MP Chirag Paswan has decided to contest elections alone. Though LJP has no significant presence in Jharkhand, the party may play a spoilsport.
The BJP however, will try and cash in on the Supreme Court judgment in the Rafale deal case. The party is making aggressive posturing, demanding Rahul Gandhi's apology for falsely targetting PM Modi. Banners and posters of Rafale were seen in Ranchi on Monday. How Congress replies to it will be closely watched.
Jamshedpur East with sizeable urban population will be a closely watched region. There is a total of six assembly seats under Jamshedpur which falls in East Singhbhum district. The six assembly seats are Jugsalai, Jamshedpur West, Baharagora, Potka, Jamshedpur East and Ghatsila. Named after Jamshetji Tata, Jamshedpur is home to Tata Steel and Tata Motors.
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