Ranchi, Apr 26 (PTI) The filling of nomination papers for three Lok Sabha seats – Chatra, Koderma and Hazaribag - in Jharkhand commenced on Friday with the issuance of notification for the fifth phase of parliamentary polls, an official said.
BJP candidate Kalicharan Singh filed his nomination papers for the Chatra Lok Sabha constituency on the first day of submitting the document.
The three constituencies will go to polls on May 20.
Talking to reporters before filing his nomination, Singh said, "I am thankful to the party for reposing faith in me. I am sure that people would cast votes in favour of the BJP, as they want development of the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
The BJP has fielded Singh, replacing its sitting MP Sunil Kumar Singh, who had defeated Congress' Manoj Kumar Yadav by a margin of over 3.77 lakh votes in 2019.
The nomination filing starts at 11 am and concludes at 3 pm every day till May 3, the last date of the process for the fifth phase of polls, the official said.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on May 4 and the last date for withdrawing such documents is May 6.
Over 58.22 lakh electors, including 28.29 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the three Lok Sabha constituencies.
Besides Kalicharan, the BJP has fielded Union Minister Annapurna Devi from Koderma and MLA Manish Jaiswal from the Hazaribag Lok Sabha seat.
From the opposition bloc INDIA, the Congress has nominated legislator JP Patel, who recently switched from BJP, from Hazaribag and former MLA KN Tripathy from the Chatra parliamentary constituency.
CPI-ML (L), an ally of the opposition, nominated its Bagodar MLA Vinod Kumar Singh from the Koderma seat.