Union Minister Annapurna Devi leading in Jharkhand's Koderma LS seat

Ranchi, June 4 (PTI) Union Minister Annapurna Devi was leading by 44,478 votes in Koderma Lok Sabha seat against CPI (ML) Liberation's Vinod Kumar Singh, election officials said.

Vinod Kumar Singh is a legislator from Jharkhand's Bagodar.

Devi, who had joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and contested the Koderma Lok Sabha seat, had defeated former chief minister and then JVM-P chief Babulal Marandi, who is now state BJP president, by a margin of 4.55 lakh votes.

| Before joining the BJP, she was the Jharkhand president of Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Born in Jharkhand’s Dumka district, Devi entered politics after the death of her husband and RJD MLA Ramesh Yadav in 1998. She had contested an assembly by-election in 1999 and became a legislator for the first time.

Devi, 54, has been a four-term MLA from Koderma assembly seat. She was the water resources minister in the then Hemant Soren government in 2013.

Koderma went to polls on May 20 with a total 15 candidates trying their luck for the Lok Sabha seat. PTI NAM/SAN MNB