In Jharkhand, BJP ahead but Arjun Munda trails; INDIA rides Hemant Soren factor in tribal seats

Even though the BJP in Jharkhand is leading in eight Lok Sabha seats out of 14, senior party leader and Union minister Arjun Munda is trailing by more than one lakh votes from his Khunti constituency, a Scheduled Tribes (ST)- reserved seat.

Arjun Munda is pitted against the Congress’s Kalicharan Munda, who has polled over 2.81 lakh votes till now. Kalicharan is the brother of the BJP’s Khunti MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda.

The INDIA bloc – which includes the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and its allies like the Congress, RJD and Left parties – is leading in five ST-reserved seats of the state – Dumka, Khunti, Lohardaga, Singhbhum and Rajmahal. It is seen to be riding on the perceived public resentment in these tribal constituencies against the arrest of JMM leader and former chief minister Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged land grabbing case nearly four months ago. The JMM and the Congress are leading in three and two seats, respectively.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey is leading by over 27,000 votes against the Congress’s Pradeep Yadav in his Godda constituency. Dubey’s campaign projected his role in ensuring an airport, an AIIMS facility and 13 long distance trains for his constituency.

In seven other seats where the BJP is leading, the margin ranges from more than 47,000 votes in the Chatra seat to as high as 1.77 lakh votes in the Palamu constituency. The Dumka seat is seeing a close contest between BJP candidate Sita Soren, Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law and ex-JMM leader, and senior JMM leader Nalin Soren, who is currently leading by a slim margin.

Congress turncoat Geeta Koda, wife of former CM Madhu Koda, who had won from Singhbhum in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections despite the “Modi wave”, is