JMM’s Hassan retains Madhupur, BJP loses by over 5,000 votes

Dumka/Ranchi: The Mahagatbandhan government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and RJD scored a hat-trick of bypoll victories in the state on Sunday after JMM candidate Hafizul Hassan won Madhupur bye-election by over 5,000 votes.
Hassan, the elder son of former Madhupur MLA and state minister, late Haji Hussain Ansari, defeated BJP candidate Ganga Narayan Singh by 5,247 votes. While Hassan bagged 1, 10,812 votes, Singh received 1, 05,565 votes. After an initial lead, Hassan trailed as Singh took lead in the 15th round, which he maintained till the 22nd. The counting was completed in 24 rounds.
Soon after his win, chief minister Hemant Soren congratulated Hassan on his victory from Ranchi. “I thank the electorate of Madhupur for reposing faith in our candidate,” Soren told reporters at his residence in the evening.
Speaking to journalists outside the counting centre, Hassan said: “The voters of Madhupur rejected BJP’s communal politics and voted for the development which is being done by our government.”
In February, three months after his father’s death, Hassan was sworn into the state cabinet and given the portfolios of sports, youth affairs and minority affairs’ ministries.
Earlier in November last year, JMM had also retained the assembly while Congress retained Bermo. Bermo had fallen vacant in May after the death of its incumbent lawmaker Rajendra Prasad Singh while Dumka was vacated by Soren, who won from two seats, as he took oath as MLA from the Barhait assembly seat.
In its response, state BJP claimed that JMM’s victory was the victory of power “misuse”. “However, the party was able to narrow its margin this time in comparison to the 2019 assembly polls. JMM managed to win by a whisker,” state BJP president Deepak Prakash said.
Meanwhile, BJP functionaries in Deoghar attributed Singh’s defeat to the party’s infighting. Singh, an Ajsu-Party turncoat, was fielded by BJP considering his 2019 assembly poll performance. Singh secured 45,000 votes and defeated BJP candidate Raj Paliwar. Paliwar was benched by the saffron party for the bypoll.
Singh said, “I respect the mandate of Madhupur’s people and I will keep working for the development of the constituency despite my defeat.”