Jharkhand polls: INDIA beats anti-incumbency, ‘infiltrator’ campaign to stun NDA

Beating anti-incumbency and corruption charges against Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the JMM-led INDIA bloc has taken a strong lead against the BJP-led NDA in Jharkhand.

By 2 pm on Saturday (November 23), the INDIA bloc was leading in 51 of the 81 Assembly seats, while the BJP-headed NDA was ahead in 30.

The BJP’s vociferous campaigning against “Bangladeshi infiltration” in Santhal Pargana, the dramatic arrest of Hemant earlier this year, or the defection of veteran tribal leader and former chief minister Champai Soren did not seem to have done much for the saffron party, which was leading in 26 seats around that time.

Hemant leading, Kalpana trailing

By 2 pm, Hemant was leading by 17,347 votes in Barhait, even though his wife Kalpana was trailing by 5362 votes to BJP candidate Muniya Devi in Gandey.

Champai himself had a comfortable lead of 39,105 votes in Seraikela against the JMM’s Ganesh Mahli, though NDA ally AJSU Party supremo Sudesh Mahto was trailing by 8,371 votes behind JMM’s Amit Kumar in Silli.

In Jamshedpur East, former Jharkhand chief minister and current Odisha governor Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Das Sahu had taken a lead of over 23,500 votes over former Jamshedpur MP Ajoy Kumar.

Watch: Jharkhand: BJP’s polarisation vs JMM’s tribal strategy

Who’s leading in the prominent fights

In Jamshedpur West, Saryu Roy of the JD(U) was leading by 25,803 votes over his old rival Banna Gupta of the Congress.

In the battle of the “Singh Mansion” and “Raghukul” bahus in Jharia, BJP candidate Ragini Singh had taken a lead of 15,206 votes over the Congress’s Purnima Singh, the sitting MLA.

In “Bauxite City” Lohardaga, Congress veteran Rameshwar Oraon was leading over AJSU’s Niru Shanti Bhagat by 27981 votes.

In Potka, former Union Minister Arjun Munda’s wife, Meera Munda, had a slim margin of 1,595 votes over sitting JMM MLA Sanjib Sardar.

Babulal Marandi leading

In Dhanwar, veteran politician and BJP state chief Babulal Marandi had a lead of 13,279 votes over JMM candidate Nizam Uddin Ansari.

In Ranchi, six-time MLA from the seat and BJP veteran Chandreshwar Prasad Singh had a comfortable margin of 40,958 votes over JMM’s Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji.

In Jamtara, BJP’s Sita Murmu, the estranged “other bahu” of the Soren family (widow of Hemant’s elder brother Durga), was trailing behind Congress’s Irfan Ansari by 33,481 votes.

Watch: Why Maharashtra, Jharkhand results matter for NDA, INDIA bloc

Hemant’s brother trailing

In Dumka, Hemant’s brother Basant Soren was trailing behind BJP’s Sunil Soren by merely 2062 votes.

Among other prominent names, former MP and BJP nominee Geeta Kora was trailing by only 576 votes behind Congress’s Sona Ram Sinku in Jaganathpur, while in Khunti, JMM’s Ramsurya Munda was leading by 25,162 votes over BJP’s Neelkanth Singh Munda. Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato of the JMM is leading in Nala by 9,046 votes over BJP’s Madhav Chandra Mahato.

Voter turnout in Jharkhand this year was a record 67.74 per cent, the highest since its formation on November 15, 2000. The assembly elections were held in two phases, on November 13 and 20.