Three big cosmopolitan cities of Jharkhand, along with Giridih, will go to poll on May 25 in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha poll.

In all 93 candidates are in the fray for the third phase of voting in Jharkhand with capital Ranchi having the largest number of candidates (27) followed by the industrial hub of Jamshedpur and coal capital Dhanbad with 25 candidates each. Giridih has 16 candidates in the fray.

Ranchi, which has been voting for the BJP in recent times, is poised for a pulsating contest between incumbent BJP MP Sanjay Seth and Congress’s Yashaswini Sahay, 27, the youngest candidate among the mainstream parties in the fray in Jharkhand during the polls. Seth is banking on the religious polarisation card played by BJP star campaigners and the welfare schemes trumpeted by the Narendra Modi-led regime

Sahay, a law graduate practising at Mumbai and a social worker was para-trooped by former Union minister and veteran Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay, (72), to fight the poll after it became evident that the Congress was not in favour of giving tickets to elderly candidates in Jharkhand.

Sahay is banking on the strategy of Subodh Kant Sahay and helped by INDIA bloc coalition partners JMM and RJD is hoping for consolidation of tribal and converted Christian voters who comprise nearly 38 per cent of the voters and Muslim (over 15 per cent) to wrest the seat.

INDIA bloc mission is indirectly helped by Devendra Mahato of the Jharkhand Bhasa Khatiyani Sangarsh Samity (JBKSS) party. The party floated last year and has been raising the issue of reservation in employment and education on the basis of 1932 land surveys, a sentimental issue among moolvasis and is hugely popular among Kurmi (read Mahato) youth voters. JBKSS gaining rural Kurmi voters considered traditional BJP voters will harm the prospects of Sanjay Seth.

Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat is having a direct contest between INDIA bloc backed JMM candidate Sameer Mohanty and BJP’s two-term MP Bidyut Baran Mahato. Incidentally, Baharagora JMM MLA Sameer Mohanty has openly admitted that he had learnt the ropes of politics from Bidyut Baran Mahato (a former Baharagora MLA during his stint in JMM).

Bidyut Baran Mahato had in 2019 defeated current chief minister Champai Soren with over 3 lakh votes and has hold amongst both tribal and moolvasis voters and aided by BJP’s religion card gaining votes in urban assembly segments of Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West look set for a third term.

However, Sameer Mohanty is banking on consolidation of the tribal after the arrest of former chief minister Hemant Soren and minority voters and has managed to eat into Sikh, Bengali and Odia urban voters, who were traditionally BJP supporters.

The rally by AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal that saw huge number of Sikhs in the crowd and camping of JMM central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya in Jamshedpur (who had been camping in Jamshedpur for nearly a fortnight meeting Bengali and Odia leaders) have made the battle tough for Bidyut this time.

Dhanbad is seeing Baghmara BJP MLA Dhullu Mahato taking on Congress Anupama Singh (wife of Bermo Congress MLA Anup Singh).

Giridih is seeing incumbent MP from Ajsu (NDA) Chandra Prakash Choudhary in a direct contest with JMM’s Mathura Mahato. However, their fate depends on the number of votes fetched by JBKSS leader Jairam Mahato who is again popular among Kurmi youth voters who have been traditional voters of the BJP.