New Delhi: Family members of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and four former CMs from the state contested the Jharkhand assembly election this time.
CM Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren contested Gandey assembly constituency, ex-CM and current Odisha Governor Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Das contested Jamshedpur East, ex-CM Champai Soren’s son Babulal Soren contested from Ghatshila, ex-CM Madhu Kora’s wife Geeta Kora contested Jagannathpur and ex-CM Arjun Munda’s wife Meera Munda contested Potka.
In Jharkhand, parties within the ruling INDIA bloc—Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)—were pitted against the BJP and its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). Jharkhand has 81 assembly seats, with 41 the majority mark.
JMM-led INDIA bloc is currently ahead in at least 57 seats in the 81-member state assembly with the BJP-led NDA leading in 21 seats.
JMM’s Kalpana Soren, party chief Hemant Soren’s wife who rose to prominence after her husband’s arrest, is leading against BJP’s Muniya Devi by 9361 votes in Gandey.
Polling for the 81-member Jharkhand assembly was in two phases—the first on November 13 and the second on November 20.
The JMM hoped to consolidate Kalpana Soren’s May bypoll win in Gandey, where she debuted, while her husband was in jail for alleged money laundering. The Gandey seat is part of the Giridih district and has a sizable tribal and Muslim population.
BJP’s Purnima Das, a former journalist by profession, is leading by 36,373 votes against Congress’s Jamshedpur East candidate Ajoy Kumar.
Her father-in-law, Raghubar Das, represented the seat from 1995 to 2014, going on to become the chief minister. However, Raghubar Das was defeated in the seat by ex-minister and BJP rebel Saryu Roy in the 2019 assembly election, which Roy fought as an Independent. The BJP then made Raghubar Das the Odisha governor.
During the Jamshedpur East campaign, Ajoy Kumar had written to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, alleging that Raghubar Das was “campaigning for his daughter-in-law Purnima Das, who is contesting from Jamshedpur East”.
In Ghatsila, Babulal Soren, Champai Soren’s son, is trailing by 21,429 votes behind JMM’s Ramdas Soren. Ramdas Soren is the sitting MLA and minister in the Jharkhand government.
Champai Soren, a close associate of Hemant Soren’s father, participated alongside Shibu Soren in the movement for a separate Jharkhand state but quit the party earlier this year and joined the BJP. When the demand for a separate Jharkhand state by carving out from Bihar peaked in the 1980s, Champai emerged as a face for the movement from the Kolhan region, earning the moniker of ‘Kolhan Tiger’.
Meanwhile, Champai Soren is leading in the election from Seraikella.
BJP’s Jagannathpur candidate Geeta Kora is trailing behind Congress candidate Sona Ram Sinku by 7383 votes.
Madhu Kora’s wife joined the Congress before the 2019 general election and won the Chaibasa (West Singhbhum) Lok Sabha seat. However, months later, she switched sides and joined the BJP before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 but lost her seat.
Arjun Munda’s wife, Meera Munda, is trailing in Potka behind JMM’s Sanjib Sardar by 19230 votes. According to sources, former Union Minister Arjun Munda was reluctant to contest the assembly election, expressing the desire that his wife instead get a ticket.
Arjun Munda represented the Kharsawan seat four times but lost to JMM’s Dashrath Gagrai in the 2014 assembly polls. The former CM was fielded from Khunti in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and won but lost the seat to Congress’s Kali Charan Munda in 2024.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren maintains steady lead over BJP rival Hembrom in their 2nd poll face-off
