Rajya Sabha polls: Sarfaraz Ahmad, a former Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA, has been named as the candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls in the state by the I.N.D.I.A bloc, said party spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya.
The 70-year-old leader is scheduled to file his nomination on March 11. His candidacy was confirmed after a meeting held at the Chief Minister's residence, which was attended by Chief Minister Champai Soren and senior Congress leaders.
BJP Rajya Sabha candidate
Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday had declared the party's Jharkhand unit general secretary Pradeep Verma as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections.
An official said that the biennial elections for two Rajya Sabha seats from the state will be held on March 21. The tenure of current Rajya Sabha members Samir Oraon of the BJP and Diraj Prasad Sahu of Congress is going to end on May 3. Fresh elections will be required to fill these vacancies.
Congress calls BJP candidate an 'outsider'
It is pertinent to mention that according to the current strength of the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, both the ruling alliance and the opposition are expected to secure one seat each in the upcoming polls. Now the ruling JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance has announced its candidate on Sunday.
The ruling JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance announced its candidate on Sunday. On Saturday, Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur said that their candidate would be a native of Jharkhand, contrasting with the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate who hails from Uttar Pradesh.
Ahmad resigned from Jharkhand Assembly last year
Notably, Sarfaraz Ahmad, who holds a PhD, resigned from the Jharkhand Assembly on December 31 last year. He has a long history in politics, having been first elected as an MLA in 1980 in undivided Bihar and serving as a member of Parliament from 1984 to 1989 representing Giridih.
The nomination process, which commenced on March 4, is set to conclude on March 11, with the deadline for withdrawal of candidature set for March 14. Polling is scheduled to take place between 9 am and 4 pm on March 21 at the Jharkhand Assembly premises, with counting slated for the same day at 5 pm.
Equation of Jharkhand Assembly
Jharkhand presently has six Rajya Sabha seats.
The ruling alliance, headed by JMM, holds 47 MLAs in the 81-member state assembly, while the BJP controls 26 legislators and the AJSU Party has three. Additionally, the NCP and CPI(ML) each have one lawmaker, alongside two Independents and a nominated member.
Among the ruling coalition members, the JMM has 29 MLAs, the Congress has 17, and the RJD has one.
(With PTI inputs)
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