SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 17: A total of six candidates, including Excise and Liquor Prohibition Minister Baby Devi of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Yashoda Devi of the AJSU party, Abdul Mobeen Rizvi of AIMIM filed nominations for the Dumri assembly seat by-election.
Others who filed nominations are Baijnath Mahto (Jharkhand Khatiyani Morcha) and Kamal Prasad Sahu and Narayan Giri as independent candidates.
On the last day of filing nominations today (Thursday), Baby Devi and Yashoda Devi filed nominations for the seat as I-N-D-I- A and NDA candidates respectively.
Both the blocks tried to show their strength during the filing of their nomination as six ruling party MLAs-Mathura Prasad Mahto. Jayamangal Singh alias Anup Singh (Congress), Yogendra Mahto, Sudivya Kumar Sonu, Sarfaraj Ahmed, Binod Singh (CPIML) reached in support of Baby Devi while AJSU supremo Sudesh Mahto, Randhir Singh, Narayan Das, former Koderma MP Ravindra Ray, Dumri BJP leader Pradip Sahu came along with Yashoda Devi for nomination.
Scrutiny of the nomination paper would be held tomorrow (August 18) and the nomination withdrawal deadline is August 21. The election for the Dumri by-poll would be held on September 5.
Dumri assembly by-poll has been necessitated following the death of four times MLA Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) on April 6, 2023. Jagarnath Mahto had won this seat in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019.
The JMM has fielded his wife Baby Debi who became Excise and Liquor Prohibition Minister in the Hemant Soren government on July 3, 2023.
The AJSU party has fielded Yashoda Devi, who had been runner-up in the 2019 assembly election. The BJP which was in the third position has supported the AJSU candidate. In the 2019 election, the BJP and the AJSU contested separately. Now, the AJSU has become a part of the NDA.
