Jharkhand Election: 24 Seats To Witness Same Candidates Against Each Other As Last Assembly Polls

In Jharkhand, 24 Assembly constituencies are set to see a repeat of previous electoral contests, with candidates once again facing their rivals from five years ago.

This time, however, many candidates and their opponents have switched sides.

Ranchi, set to vote on 13th November, will see a key contest between BJP's C P Singh and JMM's Mahua Maji. Singh and Maji previously faced each other in both 2019 and 2014, with Singh emerging victorious on both occasions.

Similarly, in Hatia, BJP's Navin Jaiswal will be up against Congress' Ajay Nath Shahdeo for the second time in a row.

Other constituencies have similar line-ups. In Bokaro's Chandankyari (SC) seat, BJP's Amar Kumar Bauri will once again face JMM's Uma Kant Rajak, who contested under the AJSU-P banner in 2019.

In Dhanwar, Babulal Marandi is set to face CPI-ML-L's Raj Kumar Yadav, with Marandi previously winning the seat on a JVM-P ticket.

In Ramgarh, where women are prominent contestants, Congress's Mamta Devi, who lost her position following a 2022 conviction, will face AJSU-P's Sunita Choudhary once more, as Choudhary narrowly lost in 2019. Similarly, in Nirsa, BJP's Aparna Sengupta will contend with her 2019 opponent, Arup Chatterjee, now running under a CPI-ML ticket following the merger of his party, MCC.

In Barhi, outgoing Congress MLA Uma Shankar Akela has switched to the Samajwadi Party to take on BJP's Manoj Yadav, echoing the 2019 race. Outgoing finance minister Rameshwar Oraon will once again compete with AJSU-P's Niru Shanti Bhagat in the Lohardaga (ST) constituency.

In Jamua (SC), BJP's outgoing candidate Kedar Hazra is now contesting on a JMM ticket, while his rival, Manju Kumari, who contested on a Congress ticket in 2019, is now with BJP. In Mandu, Congress's J P Patel will face AJSU-P's Nirmal Mahto, having won previously on a BJP ticket.

The "battle of bahus" is back in Dhanbad, with Congress's Purnima Niraj Singh once more facing BJP's Ragini Singh, both members of the Ramadhir Singh family.

"Candidates are selected based on their winnability and past performance," said BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo, dismissing suggestions of a candidate shortage. "The perception that there is a dearth of candidates is wrong," he added.