The Jharkhand Election results are going to be extremely crucial for the state. The two-phased election was a do-or-die contest for the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Fresh out of jail, Hemant Soren assumed the CM’s chair again by removing long-time JMM warrior Champai Soren. Champai Soren was the CM from February to July when Hemant Soren was in jail over allegations of money laundering.
The removal of Champai ‘Tiger’ Soren began a chain of reactions, which eventually led to him joining the BJP along with his son Babu Lal and fighting against the JMM.
Election Issues Ahead Of Jharkhand Polls
The Jharkhand elections saw one of the fiercest campaigns, the recipe of which had nearly everything we can expect in a poll campaign in India. The campaign saw political slugfests over claims of corruption, Bangladeshi infiltration, ouster of Hindus, change in demographics, non-release of funds, announcement of ‘populist schemes’, and a lot more.
Jharkhand Election Results: Key Seats And Candidates
While each seat is important for both the JMM-led INDIA bloc in Jharkhand and the BJP-led NDA, there are a few seats that will be crucial, especially where the battles are for personal or party prestige. Only the Jharkhand election results will tell whose prestige bubbles are burst.
Barhait | Hemant Soren vs Gamiliyel Hembrom vs Dinesh Soren
This will be Hemant Soren’s acid test to prove that he actually enjoys “the people’s support”. A loss for Hemant Soren would give the BJP fodder to attack him over the alleged land scam case.
Gamiliyel Hembrom is still licking the wounds from the 2019 assembly elections when he contested on an AJSU ticket but lost even his deposit.
Dinesh Soren is from the NCP, which is the BJP’s ally in the NDA outside Jharkhand.
Dhanwar | Babulal Marandi vs Raj Kumar Yadav
Babulal Marandi, Jharkhand’s first Chief Minister and the BJP’s state president, will have a tough time in Dhanwar. Going up against Raj Kumar Yadav of the CPI-ML will be an uphill task, considering that the veteran Left leader has defeated him once in the past. Although Marandi did win against him in 2019, the former CM will be on his toes.
Dumka | Basant Soren vs Sunil Soren
Basant Soren, a Jharkhand minister, fought the polls against Sunil Soren of the BJP. Sunil Soren, a former MLA and MP, is known for his triumphs against former CM Shibu Soren and his son Durga Soren was fielded strategically in the tribal-dominated constituency to defeat another Soren family member Basant, who is Hemant Soren’s son.
Basant Soren is primarily banking on the family name to retain the Soren family bastion.
Jama | Louis Marandi vs Suresh Murmu
Louis Marandi, a BJP turncoat, has been entrusted to protect the JMM fortress against her former party colleague and former MP Suresh Murmu. The BJP preferred Murmu over Sita Soren, a JMM turncoat and three-time MLA to contest the seat.
According to media reports, Louis Marandi is considered an “outsider” in Jama, whereas Suresh Murmu is considered the “local boy”. Suresh Soren, lost the last two elections against Sita Soren by very slim margins.
Gandey | Kalpana Soren vs Muniya Devi
Kalpana Soren, the wife of Hemant Soren, will be riding the momentum of the win in the bypoll earlier this year. She will be going up against Giridih District Council chairperson Muniya Devi, who is fighting her debut polls.
A Soren loss would severely dent the prestige of the JMM in Gandey, which the party has used to elevate Kalpana’s stature in JMM.
Jamtara | Sita Soren vs Irfan Ansari
Sita Soren, the widow of Durga Soren and the sister-in-law of Hemant Soren, was hard-pressed in the Jamtara seat contest. An experienced politician, Sita Soren switched to the BJP after Kalpana Soren’s elevation in the JMM earlier this year.
Her fight was tough against the Congress’s Irfan Ansari, a Cabinet minister in Jharkhand. Irfan’s father Furqan Ansari held the seat for four terms before Jamtara became part of Jharkhand.
Seraikella | Champai Soren vs Ganesh Mahali
Champai Soren, Hemant Soren’s replacement during the JMM crisis this year, will have all eyes on him as the Seraikella results come. Resigning after the “insulting ouster” from the CM’s post to make way for Hemant Soren, Champai Soren will be looking to prove his worth and retain his fortress.
However, the voters of Seraikella surely had a tough time choosing as Champai Soren, who spoke against the BJP till early this year, sought votes for the saffron party. On the other hand, Soren’s opponent, Ganesh Mahali, switched from the BJP to the JMM just ahead of the candidate announcements and sought votes for Hemant Soren.
Jharia | Purnima Singh vs Ragini Singh
The Jharia contest is nothing short of a thriller movie plot where a murder within a family sparks tales of fights and revenge. Congress’s Purnima Singh will be fighting to retain her Jharia seat against BJP’s Ragini Singh, who is married to Purnima’s brother-in-law Sanjeev Singh.
Sanjeev, a former BJP MLA, is in jail for allegedly murdering his brother and Purnima’s husband Neeraj, who was a Congress leader.
Ragini lost the 2019 assembly polls to Ragini by a margin of 12,054 votes.
Tamar | Vikas Munda vs Gopal Krishna Patar
A similar battle of revenge was fought in the Tamar constituency where the sitting MLA from JMM, Vikas Munda, faced off against JDU’s Gopal Krishna Patar, who is accused of murdering Vikas’s father Ramesh Munda in 2008.
Patar was sentenced to six years in prison and was released only last year. This was also a tricky battle because while public sentiment is likely to have been with Vikas Munda as the son of the former MLA, the sense of anti-incumbency could have worked against him.