Saryu Rai and Neelkanth Munda’s name missing from 1st list of BJP candidates

Ranchi :In a major surprise names of three ministers of the Raghubar Das government including those of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Rai and Rural Development Minister Neelkanth Singh Munda has been missing from the first list of 52 candidates declared by the BJP for Jharkhand elections.

Apart from the duo name of Tourism Minister Amar Bauri is also not in the list. While Saryu Rai represents Jamshedpur West, Neelkanth Singh Munda got elected from Khunti (ST) and Amar Kumar Bauri from Chandankiyari (SC) seats of the assembly.

Saryu Rai has been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Raghubar Das over a host of issues and has openly went his criticism through social media platforms and also at public forums. Such has been his anger that he had also stopped attending the meetings of the state cabinet despite being present in Ranchi.

On the other hand, Rural Development Minister Neelkanth Singh Munda got into the bad books during his role in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.

Neelkanth has been accused of not doing enough for party nominee Arjun Munda during the polls as the former Chief Minister just managed to reach Lok Sabha by winning by just over 1000 votes.

Incidentally, Arjun Munda was pitted against Kalicharan Munda who is the brother of Neelkanth Singh Munda.

For Tourism Minister Amar Bauri the Chandankiyari seat has become a hotly contested one between the BJP and the AJSU party with the Sudesh Mahto led regional outfit already declaring that it will field its candidate from the seat come what may. AJSU is once again backing Uma Kant Razak who Bauri had defeated in the assembly polls of 2014.