Ranchi
The BJP, which had bagged 11 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand in 2019, would never have imagined the results. It failed to open its account on the five ST reserved seats, all bagged by the JMM (3) and Congress (2)
Overall, the BJP’s Lok Sabha seat representation in Jharkhand has slipped down from 11 out of 14 to 8 out of 14. Tribal sentiments against the arrest of former CM Hemant Soren seem to have played a key role in BJP’s defeat as the JMM and Congress had dubbed the BJP anti-tribal.
Incarcerated former Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM Executive President Hemant Soren’s better half Kalpana Soren, a newcomer in power politics, too won the byelection for Gandey Assembly seat, that was not meant only for Scheduled Tribes. She defeated Dilip Kumar Verma of the BJP. Kalpana now looks all set for a bigger role in Jharkhand politics. Speculations are rife that she would soon be inducted in the Champai Soren cabinet.
However, JMM patriarch Shibu Soren’s eldest daughter-in-law Sita Soren lost to Nalin Soren of the JMM from the Dumka Lok Sabha seat by over 22,000 votes. Though BJP’s Sunil Soren had defeated JMM chief Shibu Soren in 2019, this time the BJP decided to replace him with Sita despite having formally announced his candidature.
For his part, Union Tribal Affairs Minister and BJP heavyweight Arjun Munda was subjected to a humiliating defeat by Kalicharan Singh Munda of the Congress in Khunti. Munda lost by a huge 1.50-lakh margin. In 2019, Arjun Munda had defeated Kalicharan by a narrow margin of 1445 votes after a recount.
But this time round, he continued trailing behind Kalicharan from the very start of all rounds of counting. The Congress had last won this seat in 2009 when Sushila Kerketta emerged victorious.
In Singhbhum, despite inducting former Congress sitting MP Geeta Koda into its fold, the BJP lost this Lok Sabha seat as well. This seat has been grabbed by Joba Manjhi of the JMM. Decades ago, this area was known as Congress veteran Bagun Sumbrai’s stronghold. He was last defeated by Geeta’s husband and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in 2009. Madhu Koda ceded this seat to Laxman Gilua of BJP in 2014.
In Lohardaga, Sukhdeo Bhagat of the Congress defeated his BJP rival and party’s National ST Morcha head Samir Oraon by over 1.30 lakh votes. Oraon was also a Rajya Sabha MP. Former Union Minister Sudarshan Bhagat had won this seat in 2014 and 2019. But, this time, the BJP decided to replace him by Oraon.
Incidentally, Sukhdeo Bhagat too had joined the BJP in 2019 and even contested the Lohardaga Assembly seat. But he was defeated by Congress’ Rameshwar Oraon, the present Finance Minister of Jharkhand. Before that, he had repeatedly represented Lohardaga in the Assembly as a Congress candidate. After encountering several ups and downs, he returned to the Congress fold over three and a half years back.
This apart, the JMM retained the Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat. Vijay Hansdak of the JMM defeated Tala Marandi of BJP by a huge 1.78 lakh margin, making the I.N.D.I.A sweep complete in the State. JMM rebel Lobin Hembrom failed to create any impact.
