‘Justice for Hemant’ her theme song, Kalpana Soren strikes a chord beyond tribal base, enthuses JMM

At a wedding resort “Utsav Upvan” at Giridih in Jharkhand on Thursday night, the reporters are making a beeline to interview Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president and ex-chief minister Hemant Soren, who is making her electoral debut from the Gandey Assembly constituency.

Sitting inside a glass cabin at the resort owned by a JMM MLA, Kalpana seems cheerful, but during breaks she complains of being “tired” of giving interviews.

“Ma’am, 15 minutes more… the last interview would be conducted at the lawn,” says one of her media team members. Kalpana frets over it, saying she is “done for the day”.

On her campaign trail, however, Kalpana’s energy and enthusiasm seem to be boundless, turning into a leader as she reaches out to masses, especially women. Addressing public meetings, she seeks vote on the work done by her husband Hemant during his CM stint, showcasing universal pension, public housing and farm loan waiver as his “achievements”.

Kalpana highlights “injustice” meted out to Hemant “just for doing his work”. She is accompanied by the JMM leaders or ministers of the party-led Cabinet, even as her campaigning seems to have enthused the cadres of her party along with those of its INDIA bloc allies in the state.

The JMM camp says Kalpana has already visited over two-thirds of 66 panchayats in Gandey, which despite not being a reserved seat has about 26% tribal population, with OBCs and Muslims accounting for a large chunk of the remaining populace.

JMM sources said that even in many villages dominated by upper-caste Rajputs or Bhumihars, Kalpana has been able to connect with villagers by talking to them about their issues and promising their resolution. In a village, she got a