Ranchi:Out of the 12 turncoat candidates, who contested Jharkhand assembly election 2024 under the banner of major political parties, seven of them won. The election which promised to be a tight contest saw a long list of leaders, who changed colours for tickets. Out of those turncoats, five were rejected by electorates.
Champai Soren
The most prominent in the list of winners is Champai Soren, who deserted JMM for BJP, which projected him as a star campaigner. Because of him, BJP was expecting to get benefit in the ST seats in Kolhan though it did not happen. However, Champai Soren was successful in helping BJP win the Saraikela seat. He defeated Ganesh Mahli of JMM by 20,447 votes.
Umakant Rajak
The second most prominent name among those who took advantage of changing parties is Umakant Rajak. It became difficult for Umakant Rajak, who was associated with AJSU for a long time, to get a ticket from Chandankiyari. It was because BJP leader Amar Bauri was in the fray from here. Sensing his political ground slipping, Rajak went to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha at the last moment. He won by a margin of 33, 733 votes. Arjun Rajwar of JLKM made it easy for Umakant Rajak to win by getting 56, 294 votes. Bauri was a distant third in the contest.
Louise Marandi
Louise Marandi also succeeded in taking advantage by changing the party. Marandi, who was angry with Sunil Soren being made the BJP candidate from Dumka seat, joined JMM and won from Jama seat by a margin of 5,738 votes. In jama, Sita Soren would win on JMM ticket.
Radha Krishna Kishore
Radha Krishna Kishore also got the benefit of changing jersey. He defeated BJP MLA Pushpa Devi in Chhatarpur on Congress ticket. Despite the division of votes of India Alliance due to RJD candidate Vijay Kumar contesting the election, Radha Krishna Kishore was successful in winning the election with a margin of just 736 votes. Radha Krishna Kishore had won the election on Congress ticket from Chhatarpur seat in 1980, 1985 and 1995. After this, he took turns switching parties, joining JDU, BJP, AJSU and RJD from time to time. This time, he returned to Congress after not getting a ticket from BJP.
Manju Devi
Manju Devi, who left Congress and joined BJP just before the election, was successful in winning the Jamua seat. She defeated Kedar Hazra by a margin of 32,631 votes. Actually, Kedar Hazra was a sitting MLA of BJP in Jamua. This year, BJP fielded Manju Devi as its candidate.
Amit Yadav
Amit Yadav won the election on BJP ticket from Barkatha. Amit was given a tough fight by JMM's Janaki Prasad Yadav. Amit Yadav won by a margin of just 3,660 votes.
Losing turncoat candidates
Kamlesh Kumar Singh, who won the Hussainabad seat on an NCP ticket in 2019, joined the BJP just before the elections. He lost to RJD's Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav by 34,364 votes. Here, BJP's rebel leader Vinod Kumar Singh contested as an Independent and got 18,077 votes. It became a major reason for Kamlesh Singh's defeat.
Lobin Hembram, who contested on a BJP ticket from Borio seat, failed to win. JMM's Dhananjay Soren defeated him by a margin of 19,273 votes. Champai Soren's son Babulal Soren was also among the losers. He was made a candidate by the BJP from Ghatsila, but Babulal Soren lost by 22,446 votes.
Kedar Hazra, who joined JMM after not getting a BJP ticket in Jamua, lost his seat. JP Patel, who was busy preparing new political ground by changing parties, suffered the most. During the Lok Sabha elections, GP Patel left the BJP and contested from Hazaribagh seat, but lost to BJP's Manish Jaiswal. This time Congress made him a candidate from Mandu, but he lost to AJSU's Nirmal Mahato by a margin of just 231 votes.
