Ranchi: Barring the daughter-in-law of Odisha governor and former Jharkhand chief minister (CM) Raghubar Das — BJP's Purnima Sahu — and the wife of chief minister Hemant Soren — JMM's Kalpana Soren — the family members of other former CMs and eminent politicians drew a blank as the verdict for the 2024 assembly election was declared on Saturday, ending months of the high-octane electoral battle. Hemant's brother and JMM candidate Basant Soren defeated BJP's Sunil Soren by 14,588 votes from Dumka.
Saturday's verdict gave the Hemant Soren-led INDIA bloc in the state a bigger mandate compared to 2019, dismissing the BJP-led NDA's narrative of Bangladeshi infiltration and corruption charges, among others.
While Kalpana retained the Gandey seat by defeating BJP's Muniya Devi by 17,142 votes, poll debutant Purnima trounced former Congress MP Ajoy Kumar by 42,871 votes in Jamshedpur East. "This victory belongs to all women. I thank the people of Gandey as well as that of Jharkhand for supporting politics of development by standing with INDIA bloc," Kalpana said.
Purnima said, "The work done by my father-in-law in the past 25 years helped me win the seat. My aim will be to continue the good work."
However, three former tribal CMs couldn't help their family members win the seats that were reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). The wife of former CM and ex-Union minister Arjun Munda, BJP's Meera Munda, who plunged into the electoral fray for the first time from Potka, lost to outgoing JMM MLA Sanjib Sardar by 27,902 votes.
The son of former CM and JMM turncoat Champai Soren, debutant Babulal Soren of BJP, trailed behind JMM's outgoing MLA and minister Ramdas Soren by 22,446 votes in Ghatshila. The wife of former CM Madhu Koda and BJP candidate Geeta Koda lost to Congress's Sona Ram Sinku by 7,383 votes in Jagannathpur. Geeta, who was Congress MP from Singhbhum in the Lok Sabha polls held early this year, joined BJP to contest the parliamentary polls on the saffron camp's ticket. She was defeated by Joba Majhi then.
JMM supremo Shibu Soren's elder daughter-in-law Sita Soren, who was fielded by BJP from Jamtara against Congress's Irfan Ansari, lost the battle by 43,676 votes. With this win, Irfan clinched Jamtara for the third time. Sita had won from Jama twice earlier.
ASSOCIATIONS MATTER
CANDIDATE —- PARTY — SEAT — VOTES POLLED
Kalpana Soren — JMM — Won Gandey — 1,19,372
Purnima Sahu — BJP -- Won Jamshedpur East — 1,07,191
Babulal Soren — BJP — Lost Ghatshila — 75,910
Geeta Koda — BJP — Lost Jagannathpur — 49,682
Meera Munda -- BJP — Lost Potka — 92,420
Sita Soren — BJP — Lost Jamtara — 89,590
Basant Soren — JMM — Won Dumka — 95,685
Photos by Mahadeo Sen