Sneha front runner for ticket in LS elections

Even as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) declared candidates for Dumka and Giridih on Thursday, the daughter of a sitting MLA and former state deputy CM, Sneha Mahto, and three sitting MLAs have emerged as the frontrunners in the race for the JMM ticket to contest from the Jamshedpur and Singhbhum Lok Sabha seats, people close to the developments said on Thursday.

Party insiders said that Sneha Mahato, daughter of JMM’s sitting Ichagarh MLA Savita Mahato and former deputy CM late Sudhir Mahato, has emerged as a strong contender for the party ticket from Jamshedpur where the party is eyeing a strong Kurmi community candidate to take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s three-time sitting MP Bidyut Baran Mahato.

Jamshedpur, which has been electing a Kurmi candidate continuously since 1989, barring the exception of Arjun Munda and Dr. Ajoy Kumar, is estimated to have 11% voters from the Kurmi community.

Asked about the chances of her daughter being the party’s choice in Jamshedpur, Savita Mahato neither confirmed nor denied it.

“There are many names as probable JMM candidates, some very senior. I can’t say anything more on this now. Let things take their course, and all will be known in a day or two,” Savita Mahato told HT on Thursday.

Aastik Mahato, an old ally of Nirmal Mahato and Shailendra Mahato, was among other prominent contenders. Aastik had managed 80,000 votes as an AJSU candidate in 2011 but lost to Dr Ajoy Kumar of JVM. Former MP Suman Mahato, widow of former MP Sunil Mahato, central committee members Sunil Mahato ‘Mita’ and Mohan Karmakar are also in the race for the JMM ticket from Jamshedpur.

JMM will hold its meeting of the legislators and parliamentary board in Ranchi on Friday, and the final list of party candidates is expected to be out by Saturday.