The notification for the second phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections was issued on Monday and the last date for filing the nominations is November 18. In the second phase, 20 Assembly seats will go for polls on December 7.

The notification said the existing Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand will continue till January 5, 2020, unless dissolved earlier.

Elections to the state's 81 Assembly seats will be held in five phases, beginning November 30, and the results will be announced on December 23. The constituencies going for polls in phase 2 are:

Baharagora, Ghatsila (ST), Potka (ST), Jugsalai (SC), Jamshedpur East, Jamshedpur West, Seraikella (ST), Chaibasa (ST), Majhgaon (ST), Jaganathpur (ST), Manoharpur (ST), Chakradharpur (ST), Kharsawan (ST), Tamar (ST), Torpa (ST), Khunti (ST), Mandar (ST), Sisai (ST), Simdega (ST) and Kolebira (ST).

The last date for withdrawal of candidature for the second phase is November 21.

BJP announces 52 names for Jharkhand polls, drops 10 MLAs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced a list of 52 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jharkhand.

The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will go to the polls in five phases from November 30 to December 20, an exercise spread over 21 days because of the naxal problem that poses a security challenge. Counting of votes will take place on December 23.

BJP's chief ministerial face Raghubar Das has been fielded from Jamshedpur East, while its Jharkhand unit chief Laxman Gilua will be contesting from Chakradharpur.

Interestingly, the saffron party has dropped 10 of its sitting MLAs. The ruling party has given 13 tickets to the youth and 17 to people from Scheduled Tribe. Twenty-one tickets have gone to people from the Other Backward Class (OBC). Among the 52, five are women.

BJP working president JP Nadda sounded confident of a BJP victory, saying that in his six trips to Jharkhand, he has sensed support for the Raghubar Das-led government.

"Jhharkhand was once known for corruption and instability. But today it is known for stability and development," he said.

Congress and JMM announce alliance, Hemant to be CM face

The Congress had on Friday announced that it will be contesting the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly polls in alliance with the Jharkahnd Mukti Morcha (JMM).

In a joint press conference here, Congress Jharkhand in-charge RPN Singh and JMM executive president Hemant Soren announced the seat sharing formula also.

"JMM, Congress and RJD will fight on 43, 31 and 7 seats respectively," said Singh. "Hemant Soren will lead the alliance and will be the face of the Chief Minister. He had led the alliance as Chief Minister in the past as well."

Despite being in Ranchi, RJD president Lalu Yadav's eldest son Tejashwi Yadav stayed away from the press conference. Yadav had met Hemant Soren on Thursday night in Ranchi. Sources in the RJD said that the party wanted to fight on more seats.

"The decision about seat sharing in the state got impacted as RJD chief Lalu Yadav is in jail. They have some demands and we will resolve those after consultation with Lalu Yadav," Hemant Soren said.

Singh said, "Many questions were raised on the Congress-JMM alliance, now we have announced that we will contest the elections together. We also answered the leadership question by announcing Hemant Soren as the Chief Ministerial candidate."

He added that there would be no friendly fight among the alliance partners.

But the grand alliance partners seem to be sharing an uneasy relationship as earlier Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) president Babulal Marandi announced to contest the polls on all 81 Assembly seats and now the RJD is also not happy with the seat sharing formula announced by the Congress and JMM.

The Left will also be fielding its candidates in the assembly polls.

-with inputs from IANS