Home India Politics JMM picks Sushila Hansda for chief minister

JMM picks Sushila Hansda for chief minister

By IANS,

Ranchi : The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has chosen legislator Sushila Hansda as its nominee for chief minister to counter the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) candidate Annapurna Devi for the post.

The JMM picked Hansda at its executive committee meeting in coal city Dhanbad Thursday night.

“If the RJD has Annapurna Devi then we have Sushila Hansda who could be the next chief minister,” JMM chief Shibu Soren told reporters in Dhanbad after the meeting.

Party sources said Soren, who stepped down as chief minister on Jan 12 after losing the crucial Tamar by-election, is likely to go to New Delhi on Friday or Saturday to meet United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss the formation of a government in the state. Jharkhand has been under president’s rule since Jan 19.

Hansda is the fourth JMM chief ministerial nominee. The party first picked Champai Soren but he was rejected by the UPA partners. After Champai, the party projected former agriculture minister Nalin Soren but he got entangled in a dissproportionate assets case. The third nominee was legislator Salkhan Soren.

The JMM picked on Hansda after the RJD called for the appointment of a woman as chief minister.