RANCHI: Nearly half a dozen former bureaucrats are in the fray to contest the Jharkhand Assembly elections that will be held in five phases beginning November 30.
The counting of votes will take place on December 23.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its fourth list of candidates. The party has named candidates from three constituencies -- Jugsalai (SC), Jaganathpur (ST) and Tamar (ST).
The BJP has so far announced its candidates for a total of 71 seats. The party has not yet announced candidates for 10 seats due to the ongoing talks with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
At least six former bureaucrats have got tickets from different political parties. Congress candidate Rameshwar Oraon, the state party president, is a former IPS officer and has been fielded by the party from Lohardagga assembly seat.
He was the Additional Director General of Police and took voluntary retirement in 2004 to fight the Lok Sabha election from Lohardagga on a Congress ticket. He won the poll and became a Central minister. He was also the chairperson of the Scheduled Tribe commission during the UPA government.
Oraon is pitted against former Congress president and now BJP leader Sukhdeo Bhagat. Bhagat was a deputy collector and joined politics after resigning. He is said to have quit the Congress due to Rameshwar Oraon, alleging that it was Oraon who played a major role in his defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
Sukhdeo Bhagat had fought on a Congress ticket in the Lok Sabha polls and had lost by just a few thousand votes to BJP candidate Sudarsan Bhagat.
Bhagat is the sitting legislator from Lohardagga seat.
Another former IAS official who was cabinet secretary and home secretary of Jharkhand, J.B. Tubid has been given a ticket by the BJP from the Chaibasa assembly seat. He had lost in the 2014 Assembly poll. Former IAS officer Lakshman Prasad Singh has also been given a ticket from the Dhanwar assembly seat by the party.
Former Director General of Police of the state Rajeev Kumar has been fielded by the Congress from the reserved Akanke Assembly seat. Another IPS official, Rezi Dundung has been fielded by the Jharkhand Party from the Simdega assembly seat. Dundung was Additional Director General of Police and took retirement just before the polls. He was expecting a ticket from either the Congress or the BJP.
There are also some bureaucrats who had joined the BJP but could not get tickets. Former DGP, DK Pandey joined the BJP just before the announcement of the polls. Till now the BJP has announced the names of 65 candidates but his name does not figure in the list. The same is the case with former IAS official Suchitra Sinha. She had joined the BJP along with DK Pandey.