West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday announced 13 candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly elections. All 13 candidates are political greenhorns who will be contesting elections for the first time and a majority of them are under the age of 40 years – a decision that the party sees as an effort to encourage young and energetic leaders to take up active politics and strengthen the base of otherwise ‘inactive’ TMC here.
The list of candidates includes a few youth wing leaders from Congress party and other regional parties who joined the TMC in the past couple of years, sources said. “We are encouraging young leaders to take up active politics in Jharkhand. Most of our candidates have done tremendous work at the grass root level and are well aware of the actual problems people face in the tribal hinterland,” said Sudhanshu Saha, Jharkhand In-Charge of TMC.
TMC has never managed to send any representative to the Jharkhand Assembly since the formation of the State in 2000. However, the party has inducted former legislators in the past in order to get a berth here, but the efforts have not shown any results yet. In 2014, the party decided to field former Human Resource Development Minister Bandhu Tirkey from Mandar, but Tirkey failed to weave his magic against the Narendra Modi juggernaut. He quit the party after 2014 elections and the party that swears by Mamata’s ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’ slogan has since not inducted any popular face in its cadre here.
The party has fielded Mandip Malhar from Garhwa, Kanhaiya Choubey from Bhawanathpur, Surendra Yadav from Panki, Kishore Kumar Bhagat from Tamar, Shani Sinku from Jagganathpur, Turam Biruli from Chaibasa, Mahendra Jamuda from Manoharpur, Rajiv Ranjan from Barhi, Vijay Ram from Kanke, Harekrishna Rai from Madhupur, Radheshyam Goswami from Jharia, Shivcharan Malto from Littipara and Munni Hansda from Shikaripara.
The TMC contested the 2014 elections as an ally of former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik. Then State President of TMC, Bandhu Tirkey had said that the party will have an added advantage in Santhal Pargana due to the region’s cultural and geographical proximity to Bangladesh.
Elections in Jharkhand will be held in five phases. Polls here will begin on November 30 and conclude on December 20. The final counting will be done on December 23.
