Lok Sabha 2019 constituency: Triangular contest in Jharkhand’s Chatra seat

Apr 24, 2019 06:15 PM IST

Share Via

Copy Link

Polling in Jharkhand will be held in four phases from April 29 to May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23.

The Chatra parliamentary constituency is one of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand.

Kolkata, India - March 19, 2019: A view of an EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail), near Shyambazar AV School, in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Directed by District Election Officer, as part of an awareness programme, officials show EVMs and VVPATs to people. (Photo by Samir Jana / Hindustan Times)

The Chatra Lok Sabha seat, spread over five assembly segments across Latehar, Chatra, and Palamu districts, has a predominance of Scheduled Caste electorate. Chatra, Simaria, and Latehar assembly constituencies are reserved for SC candidates while Manika is for members of Scheduled Tribes. Only one assembly seat of Panki in Palamu district is unreserved.

This year, Chatra will witness a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress, and RJD.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has sealed an alliance with the All Jharkhand Student’s Union (AJSU), will contest 13 seats and the regional party will put up its candidate in one constituency.

And under the Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan, the Congress got seven seats, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) four, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) two and Rashtriya Janata Dal one.

In 2004, Bihar resident Dhirendra Agarwal won on an RJD ticket; the first speaker of Jharkhand assembly Inder Singh Namdhari won in 2009 when he contested as an Independent and Sunil Kumar Singh from the BJP sailed to victory riding on a Modi wave in 2014.

People of Chatra have faced major issues like the lack of a rail link, highway deaths, power woes, and unemployment leading to opium cultivation for decades. They say their complaints and issues have not been addressed so far.

Polling in Jharkhand will be held in four phases from April 29 to May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23.

READ: All about Lok Sabha elections 2019

Here are a few details about the Chatra Lok Sabha seat:

State: Jharkhand

Name of the Lok Sabha constituency: Chatra

Polling date: April 29

2019 candidates: Subhash Yadav (RJD), Manoj Kumar Yadav (Congress), Arjun Kumar (CPI)

Sitting MP, party: Sunil Kumar Singh, BJP

Winning margin in 2014: 178,206

Runner up name, party: Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, Congress

Number of voters in 2014: 712,971

Percentage of votes polled in 2014: 54.32%