The BJP on Tuesday released the names of the 40 party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah as star campaigners in Jharkhand for the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP has denied tickets to four sitting Lok Sabha MPs from Jharkhand - Ramtahal Chaudhary (Ranchi), Rabindra Rai (Koderma), Rabindra Pandey (Giridih) and Karia Munda (Khuti).

All these four MPs, who have been denied tickets, figure in the list of the BJP's star campaigners.

Among the other star campaigners are Hema Malini, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda and Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

Ramtahal Chaudhary, who has announced that he will fight as an independent candidate, is likely to file his nomination for the Ranchi Lok sabha seat on March 18. He is banking on the votes of the Mahto community. According to him, there are five lakh voters of the Mahto caste in the constituency.

BJP however, finds no problem regarding Chaudhary's name in its list of star campaigners.

"He has not quit the party", BJP spokesperson Pradeep Sinha told IANS.

IANS

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