With Louis Marandi denting JMM stronghold, Basant Soren challenged to save legacy

Hemant Soren faced BJP's Dr. Louis Marandi in the 2014 assembly elections. Louis Marandi defeated Hemant Soren by a margin of 5 thousand votes and for the first time hoisted the BJP flag in the state.

Dumka (Jharkhand): Dumka, the sub-capital of Jharkhand is special in many ways. It is known worldwide for being the seat of Lord Shiva's Basukinath temple, and for the village consisting of 108 temples made out of terracotta art in the sixteenth century. Situated here is the Mayurakshi Masanjor Dam, which was built in 1952 with the help of the Government of Canada. Despite the fact that this dam is located in Dumka, its full ownership was given to West Bengal, which is a cause of dispute even today.

From a political perspective, Dumka is the hottest assembly seat of Santal Parganas. This seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes is considered the traditional seat of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Stephen Marandi has won 5 times on JMM ticket from Dumka assembly seat. In the year 2009, Hemant Soren won for the first time from here and took the post of Deputy Chief Minister and then later Chief Minister of the state. Hemant Soren faced BJP's Dr. Louis Marandi in the 2014 assembly elections. Louis Marandi defeated Hemant Soren by a margin of 5 thousand votes and for the first time hoisted the BJP flag here. JMM avenged this defeat in the 2019 assembly elections. Hemant Soren defeated Louise Marandi of BJP by a margin of 13,188 votes.

Why is the by-election happening?

Basant Soren

In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections, Hemant Soren had contested from two seats - Dumka and Barhet. Hemant Soren had won both the seats and later, after registering victory, he quit the Dumka seat. Apart from Dumka, by-elections are also being held in Bermo. The Bermo seat is vacant due to the death of Congress MLA Rajendra Singh.

Direct face-to-face combat

There are a total of 12 candidates in the electoral battle of Dumka, out of which 8 are independents. In this by-election, BJP's Louise Marandi is trying her luck once again. Louise Marandi has a PhD qualification. She has been a member of the Jharkhand Women Commission. She has also taken command of the women's wing of BJP. Louise was defeated in the 2009 assembly elections, but in 2014 she defeated Hemant Soren and achieved the status of a cabinet minister in the Raghuvar government. Louise Marandi has a direct fight with JMM's Basant Soren. Basant Soren is the younger son of Dishom Guru Shibu Soren and younger brother of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. A tenth-pass out, Basant Soren has entered the election fray for the first time. Prior to this, he has been handling party politics. Basant Soren is faced with the challenge of advancing the politics of Soren family and saving its legacy.

Voter's equation

According to the 2011 census, the population of the district is thirteen lakh 21 thousand ninety-six. Hindus hold the majority in this. Here Hindus constitute 79.06%, Muslims 8.09%, Christians 6.54% and others 6.31%. Scheduled Tribes constitute 43.22% of the population in the tribal-dominated district and 6.02% belong to Scheduled Castes. Tribal votes decide the victory and defeat of this seat. The number of voters here is 2 lakh 50 thousand 720. Out of these, 1 lakh 26 thousand 210 are male voters and 1 lakh 24 thousand 510 are female voters. 8093 voters aged between 18 to 19 years will exercise their vote for the first time.

Issues dominating the Dumka Assembly by-election

Soon after the formation of the government in Jharkhand, the coronavirus contagion spread. The government could not take major development decisions due to the pandemic. During this time the new government kept whining over the empty treasury and the excesses of the Central Government on the economic front. On the one hand, JMM is making the Centre's step-motherly treatment an issue, while on the other hand BJP is showcasing the achievements of the Modi government. In the midst of this, in addition to the ever-present slogans of Water, Forest, and Land, other local issues that pertain to construction of roads, supply of electricity and water dominate the election narrative. Louise Marandi is raising the issue of outsider versus local; she is calling herself the daughter of Dumka and labeling Basant Soren as an outsider. At the same time, Basant Soren himself is confident of winning by citing the work done by the government for the tribals.

Jharkhand Assembly by-elections 2020 are special – why?

Polling will be held for two seats of Jharkhand Assembly on Tuesday, November 3rd. Both these seats have become a question of prestige for the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD. In the alliance, Dumka seat was in the account of JMM, so after Hemant Soren left the seat, his younger brother Basant Soren has been nominated as the candidate. At the same time, the Bermo seat was in the account of Congress, so Jai Mangal Singh Anoop Singh, the elder son of the late MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh, has been made the candidate. Losing or winning both these seats will not affect the magical equation of power that government holds presently; however, losing a seat while in power will indicate towards a lack of public confidence in the government.