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3 Union ministers trailing in Jharkhand
May 13, 2004 10:17 IST
Last Updated: May 13, 2004 13:01 IST
The Congress is surging ahead of the BJP in the tribal state of Jharkhand, which is ruled by a BJP-led government.
While it is leading in nine seats, the BJP is leading in only two seats of the 14 in the state. The RJD is leading in two seats and CPI in one.
Three Union ministers in Jharkhand are trailing while former chief minister Babulal Marandi is comfortably placed as per available trends.
External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Non-Conventional Energy Minister Karia Munda and Minister of State for Social Justice Nagmani (all BJP) are trailing in Hazaribag, Khunti and Chatra, respectively.
After the second round of counting, Sinha is trailing Communist Party of India's Bhubaneswar Prasad Mehta by 9,045 votes and after the first round of counting Munda is trailing Congress candidate Shushila Kerketta by 3,000 votes.
Nagmani, contesting from Chatra, is in the third position while Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Dhirendra Agarwal is leading by 10,972 votes over independent candidate Ram Lal Oraon. Former state assembly speaker Inder Singh Namdhari is also in the fray.
However, Marandi has established a comfortable lead of over 80,000 votes over Champa Verma of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Koderma seat.
JMM chief Sibu Soren is leading BJP's Sonelal Hembrom by 13,716 votes in Dumka constituency.