Filling of nomination papers for 4 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand begins

The nomination exercise will start at 11 am and will conclude at 3 pm every day till the last date of the process for the phase on April 25, an election official said.

Ranchi: The filling of nomination papers for four Lok Sabha seats— Singhbhum, Khunti, Lohardaga and Palamu in Jharkhand began on Thursday with the issuance of the notification for the polls in the country, an official said.

Palamu is a Schedule Caste (SC) reserved seat, while the rest three seats are reserved for Schedule Tribe (ST) candidates. The constituencies will go to polls on May 13.

The nomination exercise will start at 11 am and will conclude at 3 pm every day till the last date of the process for the phase on April 25, the election official said.

Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on April 26 and the last day of withdrawing nomination is April 29.

"The notification for nomination in four Lok Sabha seats has been issued today as per the schedule. The process of nomination has started with issuance of notices by the respective district election officers," Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar told PTI.

Over 64.37 lakh electors including 32.07 lakh female are eligible to exercise their franchise in four Lok Sabha constituencies. Over 2.42 lakh first-time voters between the age group of 18 and 19 are also expected to play a significant role in the four Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand.

The BJP has fielded Geeta Kora, who recently switched to the saffron party from Congress, from Singhbhum seat, Union minister Arjun Munda from Khunti, Rajya Sabha MP Samir Oraon from Lohardaga and sitting MP VD Ram from Palamu.

From the opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A, Congress has fielded Sukhdev Bhagat from Lohardaga and Kalicharan Munda from Khunti Lok Sabha seat. JMM named former women and child development minister Joba Manjhi from Singhbhum, while RJD has fielded Mamta Bhuiyan from Palamu constituency.