AJSU’s Yashoda Devi named NDA candidate for Dumri assembly by-polls in Sept
Doman Singh Munda, AJSU’s central parliamentary board member, said that Devi would file her nomination on August 17, the last date for nominations. “The central parliamentary board on Sunday cleared the name of Yashoda Devi as the party candidate for Dumri. She will contest as a joint candidate of the NDA,” he added.
All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) Party leader Yashoda Devi has been named the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Dumri assembly by-election scheduled for September 5.
Doman Singh Munda, AJSU’s central parliamentary board member, said that Devi would file her nomination on August 17, the last date for nominations.
“The central parliamentary board on Sunday cleared the name of Yashoda Devi as the party candidate for Dumri. She will contest as a joint candidate of the NDA,” he added.
Yashoda Devi will be up against cabinet minister and ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Bebi Devi, whose husband Jagarnath Mahto’s death in April this year necessitated the by-polls.
During the assemblyelections in 2019, Yashoda Devi contested as an AJSU candidate and came in second, losing to Jagarnath Mahto.
After contesting the Lok Sabha elections together in 2019, the AJSU-BJP alliance broke up six months later due to disagreements over seat sharing in the assembly elections, which led to losses for both parties.
The combined vote share of both parties is higher than what Jagarnath Mahto garnered in his victory.
“In the Lok Sabha election, we received over 1 lakh votes from the Dumri assembly segment. This time, we have set a target of obtaining 1.5 lakh votes in this by-election. We will win, as we did in the Ramgarh assembly bypoll,” said AJSU legislator Lambodar Mahto.
Before the announcement of Yashoda Devi’s candidature, senior AJSU leaders, led by president Sudesh Mahto, reached the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state headquarters and held a closed-door meeting with BJP leaders, including Jharkhand in-charge and national vice-president Laxmikant Vajpayee and state president Babulal Marandi.
The state has witnessed six by-elections since 2019, with the ruling alliance winning four and the NDA winning one. AJSU Party’s Sunita Chaudhary, with the support of the BJP, won the Ramgarh assembly by-election earlier this year.
Reacting to the development, JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said his party would win the by-election hands down.
“The delay in naming the candidate by the NDA was not about choosing who would contest the election, but rather about selecting whom to choose for losing the elections. The people of Dumri will give a decisive mandate to Bebi Devi as a tribute to Jagarnath Babu, who served the constituency four times. It’s a pity that the BJP has chosen to hide behind a small party,” he added.
