JMM going all out to win prestigious Santhal battle
election battle in Jharkhand has entered the Santhal Pargana region, long considered a pocket borough of the Soren family. It is a prestige battle for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's first family as it looks to wrest back party supremo Shibu Soren's eight-time seat from the BJP.
Three Lok Sabha seats of Santhal — Dumka, Rajmahal and Godda — are going for polls in the last phase on June 1.
In 2019, the BJP won Dumka — where its candidate Sunil Soren beat former chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren by 47,539 votes — and Godda constituencies while JMM won Rajmahal. However, the JMM-led opposition alliance performed well in the assembly elections later in 2019, with JMM winning nine assembly constituencies and its ally Congress winning five, leaving just four out of 18 seats for the BJP.
The battle royale this time is in Dumka, a seat reserved for STs. The JMM has fielded Nalin Soren, a sitting MLA, against turncoat and Shibu Soren's elder daughter-in-law Sita Soren who recently quit as JMM MLA from Jama assembly constituency and joined the BJP. She is contesting the Lok Sabha election for the BJP. Though Nalin Soren is the JMM candidate from Dumka, locals here say the actual fight is between two daughters-in-law of Shibu Soren — Sita Soren and Kalpana Soren, wife of former chief minister Hemant Soren who is under judicial custody in connection with an alleged land scam case.
Kalpana Soren has emerged a star campaigner of the JMM in this election and she has kept her focus on the Santhal region. JMM's Dumka MLA
