Ranchi: Candidates of the ruling mahagathbandhan alliance, both sons of stalwarts making their debut in electoral politics, retained the prestigious Dumka and Bermo seats in the assembly. The development is a significant setback for BJP, whose senior leaders campaigned in the two constituencies saying the government in the state will be replaced soon after the bypoll results are out.
JMM’s Basant Soren, son of party president Shibu and the younger brother of CM Hemant, defeated BJP’s Lois Marandi by 6,842 votes in the tribal heartland of Dumka while Congress Kumar Jaimangal alias Anup Singh, son of deceased MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh, beat the saffron party’s Yogeshwar Mahto ‘Batul’ by 14,225 votes.
Though Basant secured 79,964 votes (1,047 less than what Hemant had in 2019 election) Jaimangal bettered the performance of Congress on Bermo seat by scoring more votes than what his late father got 10 months ago. Late Rajendra Prasad Singh had got 88,945 votes while Jaimangal got 92,973.
Though the results does not alter the equations of politics in Jharkhand, the mandate makes it easy for the mahagathbandhan government to take forward its policies with more strength and conviction.
JMM said the results are an endorsement of their effort to introduce a religious code for the indigenous people of the country. “We are taking the lead in demanding the Centre to accord separate religious code for the tribals and an official proposal is being sent by the assembly for that,” the party’s central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said on Tuesday evening.
He also attacked BJP, accusing the saffron party of spreading misinformation and making efforts to mislead not just the voters but the people of the entire state. “Three former CMs (Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das) used all their might tried to confuse the people by saying they will topple the government after they win the two seats. These claims were made despite the mahagathbandhan having a thumping majority in the assembly,” he said.
Conceding defeat, BJP legislative party leader Babulal Marandi extended greetings to the newly elected MLAs. “I hope both of them will live up to the expectations of the electors,” he said. However, BJP state president Deepak Prakash, who has been booked for sedition for “we will topple the government after bypolls” remark, congratulated the BJP candidates for reducing the margin. “Electors want a change and this is evident from the increase in the number of votes that NDA bagged on both the seats,” he said.