Former BJP leader Ram Tahal Choudhary, who had represented Ranchi five times in Lok Sabha, joined the Congress in Delhi on Thursday “unconditionally”.

However, for the Congress which lost its lone sitting Lok Sabha MP in Jharkhand (Geeta Koda) to the BJP last month this was a morale victory claimed party sources in Ranchi. Earlier, three-term MLA and BJP’s chief whip in the Jharkhand Assemly Jai Prakash Bhai Patel had joined the Congress this month and his name was declared as a candidate for the Hazaribagh parliamentary seat on Wednesday night.

“Ram Tahal Choudhary is a veteran leader and has influence among the Kurmi voters. However, considering his age (82) we doubt if he can withstand the frantic campaigning for this Lok Sabha. We consider his joining more as a morale victory against the BJP during election season. He might influence voters from the Kurmi community into the Congress fold,” said a senior Ranchi-based Congress leader.

Jharkhand cabinet minister and Congress legislative party leader in Assembly, Alamgir Alam, who was present in Delhi during the joining of the veteran leader said: “He has joined our party unconditionally. It would not have a bearing on our candidate for Ranchi Lok Sabha seat. The INDIA bloc would be strengthened by the experience of a seasoned leader like Ram Tahal Choudhary.”

Incidentally, Ram Tahal Choudhary had contested as an Independent candidate in 2019 Lok Sabha polls after being denied a ticket by the BJP and had fetched only 2.5 per cent votes. The seat was eventually won by the BJP’s Sanjay Seth with Congress’ Subodh Kant Sahay in the second position.

“The name of former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay for Ranchi parliamentary constituency is almost finalised and will be announced soon,” said a leader in the party headquarters at Ranchi.

The Congress announced its candidate for three Lok Sabha constituencies of Jharkhand — Kalicharan Munda (Khunti), Jai Prakash Bhai Patel (Hazaribagh) and former Congress state chief Sukhdev Bhagat (Lohardaga).

“While Jai Prakash Bhai Patel, who is the son of veteran Kurmi leader from JMM Teklal Mahato and son-in-law of another Kurmi leader Mathura Mahato, holds significant influence among Kurmi voters which along with minority and tribal voters would certainly help our case in the Hazaribagh seat,” said Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha.