The Congress party has announced its first list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections. The state will see elections for its 81 seats in two phases on November 13 and November 20, with the results set to be declared on November 23.

Ajoy Kumar, a senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP from Jamshedpur, will contest from the Jamshedpur East constituency. Kumar, a former police officer, has been previously in charge of Tripura, Odisha, and Nagaland for the Congress.

Rameshwar Oraon, the Finance Minister of Jharkhand, has been fielded from the Lohardaga seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Oraon, also a former police officer and ex-chief of Jharkhand Congress, will contest in the upcoming polls.

In Mandar (ST), the Congress has chosen Shipli Neha Tirkey, the sitting MLA from the constituency. Her father, Bandhu Tirkey, heads the Congress manifesto committee for these elections.

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other senior members had earlier discussed candidate selection at a Central Election Committee meeting.

The Congress, in alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), currently governs Jharkhand. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its first list of 66 candidates for the elections. The BJP plans to contest 68 of the 81 seats, leaving the remaining to its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, including the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

The BJP aims to reclaim power in Jharkhand from the JMM-Congress alliance through the two-phase elections.

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