Jharkhand Assembly elections 2024: 5 exciting contests to look out for

The Jharkhand Assembly elections have been marked by seat-sharing woes for both NDA and INDIA, a spate of defections (from both camps), allegations of dynastic politics with the members of a few political families getting key tickets (again, both camps), and a marked interest by all parties to woo female voters.

After a lot of back and forth over seat-sharing, the INDIA bloc decided on 42 seats for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 30 for the Congress, six for the RJD, and three for the CPI(ML). However, on final count the Congress, the RJD, as well as the CPI(ML), have fielded more candidates after failing to reach an agreement. Therefore, the alliance partners are set to have “friendly fights” on three seats.

Among these is Dhanwar, which BJP state president Babulal Marandi is contesting. Both Nizamuddin Ansari of the JMM and ally CPI(ML)’s Rajkumar Yadav will be contesting the seat from the INDIA bloc. In Bishrampur and Chhatapur, too, both Congress and the RJD have fielded candidates.

For the NDA, the BJP will contest 68 seats, while 10 seats have been allocated to the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU Party), two to Janata Dal (United), and one to the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

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Another notable factor is the race to woo female voters. While only 26 of the total 158 candidates are women, they are mostly from notable political families or have already made a mark for themselves in the state’s politics. In 32 (including all 28 Scheduled Tribe seats) of the 81 assembly constituencies, women outnumber men. The majority of first-time voters are also women.

Amid such an interesting electoral battlefield, a few contests stand out this time. Here are fuve contests to watch out for in the Jharkhand Assembly elections.

1. Purnima Das Sahu (BJP) vs Ajoy Kumar (Congress) | Jamshedpur East

A lot of eyes will be on the Jamshedpur East constituency this year with former Jharkhand chief minister and current Odisha governor Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Das Sahu taking on former Jamshedpur MP Ajoy Kumar.

The Jamshedpur East seat had been with the BJP since 1990, and it is considered Raghubar Das’s home turf. He won the seat on a trot for five terms since 1995 before losing it to independent (rebel BJP) candidate Saryu Roy in 2019.

This election is a prestige issue for Das as it will decide whether the family still has a sway over the seat. Purnima is a political novice but she won the highly coveted ticket simply by virtue of being Raghubar Das’s family member — prompting BJP leader Shiv Shankar Singh to file nomination as an Independent. Singh will try to make the contest a triangular one.

Congress has fielded former Jamshedpur MP and former IPS officer Ajoy Kumar from the seat. Kumar has knowledge of the region as the SP of Jamshedpur in the 1990s as well as the MP of the parliamentary seat from 2011 (bypoll) to 2014. Kumar, a former president of the Jharkhand Congress, had briefly joined the AAP in 2019 but returned to Congress the next year.

Also read: Jharkhand Assembly polls 2024: 5 key issues dominating the election

2. Purnima Singh (Congress) vs Ragini Singh (BJP) | Jharia

This will be the second time the two “Singh Mansion” bahus face off in Jharia.

The family of the late Jharia MLA Surya Dev Singh has dominated this area for four decades, earning it the monicker of “Singh Mansion”. Surya Dev Singh, his brother Bachcha Singh, Suryadev’s wife Kunti Devi, and son Sanjeev Singh have all been elected MLAs from Jharia.

However, in a major upset to Singh Mansion in 2019, Congress candidate Purnima Singh defeated Sanjeev’s wife and BJP candidate Ragini Singh in the assembly polls. Purnima Singh is the daughter-in-law of Suryadev’s younger brother Rajan Singh, whose family is known as “Raghukul”.

The battle between Singh Mansion and Raghukul started in 2014 itself, when Sanjeev (BJP) took on Rajan Singh’s son Neeraj Singh on a Congress ticket. While Sanjeev won the polls, Neeraj was murdered in 2017. Sanjeev was charged in the murder case and imprisoned.

That brought the two sisters-in-law face to face in the 2019 polls and they have been pitted against each other in Jharia this time too. With Purnima’s victory last time, the power centre in the Jharia coal belt has shifted from ‘Singh Mansion’ to ‘Raghukul’.

In 2019, Purnima (50.34% votes) won by a slender margin of 12,054 votes over Ragini (42.73% votes). Jharia has a total of 3,01,564 voters and its politics is heavily influenced by coal workers and labour unions. Therefore, securing their support is crucial for any candidate.

Also read: Jharkhand polls: Rahul says Constitution ‘under attack’, BJP ‘controlling’ EC, ED, CBI

3. Saryu Roy (JDU) vs Banna Gupta (Congress) | Jamshedpur West

Saryu Roy and Banna Gupta are old rivals of Jamshedpur West, with each one pipping the other to the seat every alternate year since 2005. Gupta is the sitting MLA in Jamshedpur West but Roy did not contest the seat in 2019, when he fought the Jamshedpur East seat as an Independent and won.

This time, Roy is back against his old foe but as a JD(U) candidate. Since JD(U) is a regional party (of Bihar), Roy has not got the party’s arrow symbol. Instead, his election symbol is an LPG cylinder. Despite these shortcomings, Roy is no minor opponent.

He emerged as a giant killer in Jamshedpur East in 2019, unseating then chief minister Raghubar Das from his citadel of Jamshedpur East after revolting against him as a minister in his own Cabinet. Gupta, on the other hand, is the sitting health minister in the Hemant Soren government.

Jamshedpur West has a large minority population of around 30 per cent.

4. Niru Shanti Bhagat (AJSU) vs Rameshwar Oraon (Congress) | Lohardaga

The ST-reserved seat of “Bauxite City” Lohardaga looks set for a fierce electoral battle between the Congress’s veteran leader Rameshwar Oraon and AJSU’s Niru Shanti Bhagat, widow of former MLA Kamal Kishore Bhagat.

This is the second time they are contesting this seat but not against each other. Niru Shanti had contested the seat in 2015, after her husband, a two-term MLA, was disqualified after being jailed for attempt to murder. He died in 2021. Niru Shanti lost to Sukhdeo Bhagat of the Congress in the bypoll. Incidentally, Sukhdeo had lost the seat to Kamal Kishore twice — in 2009 and 2014.

Also read: Maharashtra and Jharkhand polls: It's virtually a do-or-die battle for INDIA Bloc

Interestingly, Oraon, the outgoing planning and development and finance minister, contested this seat for the first time in 2019 and convincingly won against Sukhdeo, a two-time Congress MLA who had temporarily joined the BJP. Though Sukhdeo has returned to the Congress, he has not been given a poll ticket this time.

Among the major issues facing the region include migration of villagers, pollution near the bauxite dumping site, inadequate health care facilities, and an incomplete bypass road.

5. Meera Munda (BJP) vs Sanjib Sardar (JMM) | Potka

Former Union Minister Arjun Munda’s wife, Meera Munda, is all set to contest the Potka Assembly constituency against sitting JMM MLA Sanjib Sardar.

Though Meera is also a debutante, she is known to everyone, as she used to attend public programmes with her husband on several occasions, when he was the chief minister of Jharkhand. She has also campaigned in the past for her husband and the BJP.

Meera, who completed a PhD in Hindi from Kolhan University, has also been closely associated with the Saraikela Archery Association. Her name was suggested to the party by none other than her husband who was reluctant to join the poll race this time.

Sanjib Sardar, on the other hand, has contested the Potka seat twice, losing it to the BJP’s three-time MLA Maneka Sardar in 2014 but defeating her in 2019. Which way will Potka swing this time? Will it give Meera her debut assembly seat? We have to wait until November 23.