Voters rejected 4 former CMs, 1 dyCM in 2014 Jharkhand assembly polls

JAMSHEDPUR: Jharkhand assembly polls have often come up with facts hard to digest even for poll pundits. Last polls which took place in 2014 was no different. In this elections, four former chief ministers — Arjun Munda , Babulal Marandi , Madhu Koda and Hemant Soren — and one deputy chief minister — Sudesh Mahto — failed to get elected from their traditional strongholds.

Three-time CM from BJP and tribal heavyweight Arjun Munda was defeated in his own bastion Kharsawan reserved assembly seat. Munda, who had earlier won this seat four times (both on JMM and BJP tickets) had to face a humiliating defeat in the hands of JMM’s Dasrath Gagrai by a margin of more than 12,000 votes.

Munda, who won the Kharsawan seat first in 1995 in undivided Bihar on a JMM ticket, later joined the saffron camp and won the seat in 2000 polls. He won this seat three-times in a row by winning the 2005 polls too from the same seat. When he contested the Jamshedpur MP seat, his trusted lieutenant Mangal Singh Soy contested from the seat on BJP ticket and won it.

Munda again won the Kharswan seat in 2010 polls. The surprise came when Munda lost the seat to Gagrai in 2014 assembly polls, considered novice in politics in comparison to Munda, even when BJP was basking in the Modi 1.0 wave. JMM’s Gagrai got 72,002 votes.

The first CM of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi, who was once blue-eyed boy of BJP and RSS activist but later broke off and formed his own party JVM-P, contested from two seats — Giridih and Dhanwar — in the 2014 polls, but lost both the seats.

Giridih seat was won by BJP’s Nirbhay Kumar Shahabadi and JMM finished second and JVM-P's Babulal Marandi was third in the list. In the Dhanwar seat Babulal was defeated by CPI(ML)’s Raj Kumar by a margin of around 11,000 votes.

JVM-P chief Babulal Marandi lost both the seats but his party won 8 seats in that polls.

Former CM and JMM’s working president Hemant Soren also contested from two seats — Barhait and Dumka. Soren junior, who was the sitting MLA from Dumka reserved seat in Santhal Pargana and considered to be a bastion of Guruji, lost the seat to BJP’s Louis Marandi by a margin of around 10,000 votes.

By winning the Barhait seat, it was a face-saving measure for Hemant in the 2014 polls.

Former CM Madhu Koda, a known tribal face in the land of “singhbonga” (sun god) from which comes the name Singhbhum, lost the Majgaon reserved seat. He was defeated by JMM’s Niral Purty by a margin of 11,000 votes.

Former deputy CM and Ajsu-P supremo Sudesh Mahto was defeated in his traditional seat Silli. Sudesh, who had won the Silli seat thrice in a row from 2000 to 2009 polls, was defeated by JMM’s Amit Mahto in the 2014 polls by a margin of around 30,000 votes.

With five-phase assembly polls to begin on November 30, poll pundits are keeping their fingers crossed as to what surprises will pop up this time when votes are counted on December 23.