Ramgarh: Teklal Mahto and his son, Jai Prakash Bhai Patel, have been winning the Mandu assembly seat between them for the past four decades. Teklal represented undivided Bihar and Jharkhand assembly five times besides Giridih in Parliament. After his demise, Patel won the seat thrice.
Teklal was first elected from Mandu as an Independent candidate in 1985. He won the 1990 assembly polls from Mandu as a JMM nominee. JMM was divided into two factions — JMM (Soren) led by Shibu Soren and JMM (Mardi) led by Krishna Mardi — in the 1995 assembly poll. JMM (Mardi) nominee Teklal defeated JMM (Soren) candidate Chhotelal Sahu in 1995 assembly poll. Teklal continued his winning streak in 2000 and 2009 as a JMM candidate. He was elected as MP from the Giridih parliamentary constituency in 2004 and Kheeru Mahto bagged the Mandu seat in the 2005 assembly poll. Teklak again won the Mandu seat in the 2009 assembly poll.
Patel first won the Mandu assembly bypoll in 2011 and then the 2014 assembly election as a JMM candidate. Patel won the 2019 assembly poll from Mandu as BJP candidate, defeating elder brother Ram Prakash Bhai Patel fielded by JMM. Patel joined Congress ahead of the recently held Lok Sabha election and contested from Hazaribag. He was defeated by Manish Jaiswal of BJP. He will fight the assembly polls on a Congress ticket. N K Agarwal | tnn